When One Door Closes, Another One Opens
by Love Lara
Summary: We all know how Kingdom Hearts 2 the video game is played out. But how different will it get if my own fate is intertwined with Sora, Kairi, and Riku's?  A pure hearted fan fiction I hope you all enjoy reading!
1. First Visit: Twilight Town

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Kingdom Hearts franchise. The only thing I changed was adding myself into the story. ^_^ I hope you all enjoy!**

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><p>The egg shell like bed opened after Donald and Goofy tapped it a couple of times. The air whooshed out, and I blinked, trying to clear out the sleepiness. I saw them giggle, and I smiled, jumping out of the shell. "Oh my gawsh! It's been too long." I commented, wrapping them up into a group hug.<br>"And you've grown." Goofy said, putting his hand on my head.  
>I smiled and put my hands out in a bragging way. "Well I don't like to toot my own horn."<br>We turned around in the long hallway, to see a giant room at the end. My heart locket started glowing as we stepped closer. There was a bigger, more giant egg shell, and my heart locket floated. It shone brightly on the shell.  
>"Sora's here, I can feel him. Sora!"<br>"Sora!"  
>"Sora!"<br>The egg just stood silently for a moment, then it burst out with light. Sora smiled down at us, and gave a big yawn. This time I understood why Goofy and Donald had giggled. Sora had grown too, and his clothes had gotten too small for him.  
>"Lara, Donald, Goofy!" He took my hand, then Goofy's and we span in a circle together happily reuniting.<br>I placed a hand on Sora's shoulder after our dance. "I missed you a lot, Sora."  
>Sora gave me a hug, "I missed you too."<br>I hugged him back. It felt good to have him back in my life. Then I smiled and hugged everyone. We all giggled again, then heard another familiar voice.  
>"Looks like we all fell asleep!"<br>"Jiminy!" I giggled happily as he jumped into my hands.  
>"My, my! It looks as if Sora and you have grown."<br>I put a hand behind my head and blushed, smiling.  
>"We had better make a move on, team." Donald said.<br>"He's right. The last thing I remember is us running after Pluto. Then it all goes blank from there."  
>"You're right. But all my journal says is, 'Thank Namine'."<br>"Some journal that is." Donald snorted, tapping his webbed foot against the ground.  
>Jiminy looked taken aback, and looked at the floor pitifully. I cocked my head and frowned. Then I kissed him on his little head.<br>"Ah, it's okay little buddy. I distinctly remember that we were on our way to find Riku and the King."  
>"By golly, you're right!" Jiminy said cheerfully, and he jumped onto Goofy's hat.<br>"Good, now we have a plan." Sora said.  
>We all headed towards the door. The start of a new journey.<p>

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><p><em>First Visit: Twilight Town<em>

We stepped out of a mansion. We arrived in a place called Twilight Town. We walked around a lot because we didn't know where to go. But it felt a lot like Traverse Town. A warm sensation feeling, I guess. We walked around for a little while longer, until we found an alley way with a hanging curtain. Being curious, we decided to check it out. We walked in to see three other kids around our age.  
>"Hey, this hangout spot is ours!" The blonde guy said.<br>"Oh sorry. We're new in town and we just wanted to see what was back here." Sora replied, about to leave. But I spoke up.  
>"I think my grandma lives here, so could you show us around?" I tried.<br>"Sorry, we've got better things to do." The blonde kid walked off, expecting the other two to follow.  
>"What are your names?" The red headed girl asked.<br>Goofy pointed to each of us as he gave an introduction. "Oh sorry. We're Sora, Lara, Donald, and Goofy."  
>"We're Olette, Pence, and that other kid was Hayner." Pence, the kid with funky brunette hair said.<br>Olette held up a hand. "Sora, Lara, Donald, Goofy. We just met someone who was looking for you."  
>I was mildly shocked. Especially about the 'Lara' part. I wasn't really supposed to be here.<br>"He had a black coat on." Pence started, and my heart skipped a beat as I thought of Riku. "I couldn't see his face. But he had big ears." Pence put circles behind his head.  
>"The King!" I exclaimed.<br>"Did you see which way he went?" Sora asked, with excitement.  
>"Towards the station. Up on the hill to your left."<br>We all looked at each other with excitement and anticipation.  
>"Well we have to get working on the homework assignment. Catch ya later!" Pence and Olette walked off. And after we waved goodbye, we all huddled in a group.<br>"The king is looking for us!" Donald said, hugging me.  
>"Yeah, and Riku might be with him." Sora said happily.<br>"Well c'mon gang! The train station is where they are!" I said, grabbing Goofy's arm.  
>We ran out of the hang out and down the alley way that went left.<p>

"Look the train station!" I yelled, as we came up the hill.  
>We all started running towards the lot when dark power formed in front of us. My locket flew up into the air.<br>"Heartless." whispered both Sora and I.  
>Donald got out his staff and fought off the grey skinny looking heartless. The more I fought off the heartless, the more I felt like they were something more. When one waited for me to attack, it danced up and down, as if made of jelly material. I kept fighting, and my arm started to hurt. I saved Goofy a couple times by throwing him a potion. But it wasn't doing any good. We were losing stamina to fight. And as Sora fought the last one, five more popped up in its place. Both Donald and Goofy fell to the ground. Sora fell back behind me and I leaned on one knee, breathing hard.<br>"We cannot give up!" The heartless, for I didn't know what else to call them, swarmed towards us. "We won't give up!" I yelled.  
>Just as I was about to hit blade to heartless, I heard another clink of a key blade. I looked to see Sora behind me, but his key blade not up. A black figure jumped from heartless to heartless, and landed with a soft thud in front of the gang. A golden key blade shone in the sunlight. I went to take a closer look, but Donald and Goofy landed on top of my head.<br>"Your majesty?" They both exclaimed in surprise.  
>"Shh!" The black figure spoke, raising a gloved finger to his covered face. "You gotta board the train and leave town! The train knows the way." He handed Sora a small bag. "Here."<br>We all focused our attention on the little bag, when Donald yelled for the King to come back.  
>"The King…Was that really him?" Sora asked, watching as the black figure ran away.<br>"It could've been." I said, pondering.  
>Goofy said proudly, "Yep, I know it was!"<br>"Now we know he's okay!"

Sora spoke up, bringing a flashback, "The King was locked in the realm of darkness, right?"  
>"Yes." I assured Sora.<br>"But we just saw him now."  
>"Yep." Donald nodded.<br>"Then that means Riku is here!" Sora yelled.  
>I took Sora's hands happily and danced in a tiny circle.<br>"Well, I'm going to go look for Riku. What are you guys going to do?" Sora asked.  
>I punched his arm lightly, laughing. "Of course I'm coming with you!"<br>Sora and I looked at each other, smiling, then looked back at Donald and Goofy. And they weren't happy at all.  
>"Gawrsh, Sora, do you have to ask?" Goofy replied sadly.<br>Sora and I looked at each other again and started laughing.  
>"Hey, what's so funny?" Donald growled.<br>"Your faces!" Sora pointed out.  
>Both Donald and Goofy looked at each other, then they too began to laugh.<br>"C'mon, let's go for one more adventure!" Sora said. We all nodded our heads. "To, where again?"  
>"We have to board the train!" I took their hands and raced into the station.<p>

We heard footsteps behind us as we went to the ticket booth.  
>"Sora!" Pence called out.<br>Turning around, we saw Pence, Olette, and Hayner coming up towards us.  
>"What did you need?" I asked.<br>"Nothing." Hayner replied, folding his arms.  
>"We just wanted to see you off. Felt like something we had to do." Pence said, smiling.<br>I smiled back, placing my hands behind my back. Sora went to the booth, holding up four fingers.  
>"Four tickets please!" Sora asked.<br>He pulled out the bag from his pocket and Olette gasped. She pulled out the same exact bag from her pocket.  
>"They are the same!" Donald said, reflecting my thoughts out loud.<br>"Yeah." Olette nodded.  
>"That is so strange." I placed a finger to my lip.<br>After each grabbing our own tickets, we went walking forward with the rest of Hayner's gang, but Sora slipped behind me slowly. I looked back to see him stare at the platforms sadly.  
>"I can't help feeling like we won't see this town again."<br>"Why not?" Donald asked.  
>"You're thinking too much." Goofy replied, smiling.<br>Sora simply smiled back. "Yeah, you're right."

When we stepped up to the train platform, we looked for our train. There were two sitting there. One was orange and colored like most of the town we had saw. When I went to board it, Olette stopped me.  
>"That train just takes you throughout town. I believe you want this blue one."<br>I looked at the blue train closely. It was decorated with star symbols and was blue all around. The chimney of the train was shaped like a wizard's hat.  
>"Okay let's go." I said, jumping around. After all, I was excited to be awake and on my way to seeing Riku again. Donald and Goofy boarded the train, I stepped on halfway, looking back at Sora.<br>"Well bye." Sora said, giving a small wave to Hayner, Pence, and Olette.  
>"Hey Sora. You sure we haven't met before?" Hayner asked.<br>Sora looked back at me and I shrugged my shoulders. I couldn't remember them, from neither Disney film nor being in the video game world.  
>"Positive. Why do you ask?" Sora lowered his hand from his head.<br>Hayner dropped his hand from his chin and smiled. "I dunno."  
>I smiled back at them and looked at Sora. We all gasped gently. Sora had a tear falling down his cheek. He touched it gently, then rubbed his eye. I took his hand carefully, lacing our fingers together.<br>"Sora?"  
>"You okay?" Pence asked.<br>"Yeah," Sora chuckled. "I don't know where it came from."  
>"Pull it together." Hayner teased.<br>Sora nodded, smiling. "See ya!" We both replied, and we stepped on the train still holding hands.  
>I let go after the door shut, and made my way over to Donald and Goofy. I figured Sora would want time to himself. We watched Twilight Town go by. For a while, Sora just stared out the door window, looking very sad. He pulled out a blue orb from the munny bag we received from the King.<br>"You know." He started. Donald sat down on the seat to look at Sora politely. "I'm sad."  
>I got up from my spot and took his hand again. "It's okay Sora."<br>"We'll come back!" Donald assured.  
>Goofy tried to cheer him up. "We can visit Hayner and those other guys again."<br>Then there was a bright flash of light outside our windows. We were traveling to another world via train instead of Gummi Ship. I secretly wished we were going to Hollow Bastion. That's where I left Riku last.


	2. Yen Sid's Tower

**I own nothing of the Kingdom Hearts franchise.**

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><p><em>Yen Sid's Tower<em>

The train arrived at a place that looked more like a tower. We stepped off the train and took a wide look at the world. Donald and Goofy stepped forward, and when I stepped forward, I heard Sora speak up.  
>"There goes our ride." Sora chuckled.<br>The bight light faded, and the train disappeared. There was nothing else but cosmos and stars. I bit my lip and walked next to Sora, turning to look more at the tower. There was a very large person standing at the door of the tower. He was peeping, from what I concurred.  
>"What's going on?" Sora asked.<br>The voice chuckled, still peeping, "I sent some of my lackeys inside to see if the master of this tower is as big and tough as they say. Word is he's a real powerful sorcerer, which would make him the perfect body guard for me. It don't matter how tough he his, once he's a heartless he'll do as I say!"  
>"A heartless?" I exclaimed, and all four of us got ready to attack the stranger, who sounded awfully familiar.<br>"Why, with all those heartless at her side, my dear friend Maleficent, is gonna conquer everything!" We all relaxed and looked at each other, and stifled laughter as he continued, "And since I got me a debt to pay, I'm going around different worlds and building an army of heartless, special for her. Oh, why am I talking to your pipsqueaks anyway? Go on scram!"  
>"You oughta find something nicer to do." Goofy said.<br>The guy laughed, "Says who?"  
>Pete, I, Goofy, and Donald all gasped, "It's you!"<br>"Okay, how is it you all know each other?" Sora complained, folding his arms.  
>"Well it's really quite simple." I pointed to Pete. "He, Donald and Goofy all know each other because they come from the same world. I know Pete because," I paused. "Okay maybe it's not so simple."<br>Goofy raised his hands to explain. "Pete's been causing trouble for ages! So his majesty banished him to another dimension. I wonder how he escaped."  
>Pete gave a long maniacal laugh."You wanna know how, eh? Well Maleficent busted me out, that's how!" He pointed us. "Your world. No, no, no, all the worlds, are gonna belong to yours truly!" He pointed to himself. "Cause Maleficent's gonna help me conquer them." He added proudly.<br>"Maleficent huh?" Sora looked at all of us again, and we burst out laughing.  
>"Why, Maleficent's power is so great that-!"<br>"She's toast!" I chuckled.  
>"Wha-!" Pete gasped. He pointed to us again, angrily. "You! So you're the ones that did it!"<br>Sora nodded with pride. "We might have had something to do with it."  
>Pete started getting really angry. He then stomped his foot on the floor and looked from right to left. "Heartless squad! Round up!"<br>Heartless then rose from the ground, about six of them came at us. Piece of cake. We defeated the heartless under two minutes. Pete was annoyed by the fact that we took out his squad. He stomped again.  
>"Nobody! And I mean nobody messes with the Mighty Pete!"<br>Sora scoffed. "So 'Mighty' Pete, who lives in this tower anyway?"  
>"Oh you don't know, eh? Well it's old Yen Sid. Of course, he's probably a heartless by now." Pete said, snidely.<br>"Master Yen Sid lives here?" Donald exclaimed, and ran into the tower hurriedly.  
>"Yen Sid is the King's teacher." Goofy explained to both Sora and I's confused faces.<br>"Wow, sounds powerful!" Sora said.  
>I pondered for a moment who was Mickey's teacher. While thinking, I ran inside the tower after Sora and Goofy, hearing Pete throw a fit outside.<p>

There were stairs that led to another door, this one decorated with stars. Along the way, we fought heartless. It wasn't too bad. Then we got inside a room to fight about group of heartless. It was dark and decorated with bright lit up stars. The door across the room had a glowing arrow, telling us we were going the right way. But there more stairs, and more heartless. And again another room, this decorated with moons instead. After fighting off another big group, Donald complained.  
>"Heartless, heartless, heartless! Things haven't changed one bit!"<br>"Well it's a good thing we're on the job then." Goofy added, optimistically.  
>I chuckled and looked to Sora as he spoke. "So, the worlds aren't at peace after all?"<br>I shook my head. "Sora, you're fighting a losing battle. Worlds haven't been at peace for a very long time."  
>We all turned towards the door with the glowing arrow. Stepping inside, there was a straight staircase to another door. I groaned.<br>"This better be the last door or I'm gonna," More heartless interrupted my complaint.  
>"Keep it together, Lara." Sora said, putting my shoulder.<br>I took out my key blade and sighed miserably as we fought the last heartless. The door we entered through turned out to be the right door this time. Both Donald and Goofy went to the old wizard's desk, gave a salute and a bow.  
>"Master Yen Sid, it's an honor." Donald said.<br>Sora gave a wave and I held up the peace sign. "Hey there."  
>Donald and Goofy glared. "Sora, Lara. Show some respect!" Donald scolded us.<br>"But I didn't do-," I went to speak up, but Yen Sid held his hands up.  
>"So you are Sora," Yen Sid said, his voice deep . I gave a silent smile as I studied Yen Sid. I remembered who he was, and it made perfect sense why he would be King Mickey's teacher. "Have you seen the King yet?"<br>Goofy nodded, as both Donald and him stood up. "Yes, we did, Master. But we didn't get a chance to talk to him."  
>"The King has been quite busy of late." Yen Sid nodded slowly. "Therefore it would seem that the task of instructing you four falls upon my shoulders. You have a perilous journey ahead of you. You all must be well prepared."<br>Sora spoke up, "You mean, we have to go on another quest?"  
>I mumbled, "I was looking forward to finding Riku."<br>"Yeah, we were looking forward to finding our friend Riku, so we could go back to the islands."  
>Yen Sid nodded again, "Yes, I know. However, everything in your journey, Sora, is connected. Whether you will find your way home to the islands. Whether you return alone or with your friends. And whether or not the islands are still there."<br>My heart skipped a nervous beat. The islands were my ticket home. As was Riku my key to opening the door to my world. If neither of them were on my path ahead, I was in major trouble.  
>Yen Sid continued, "And the key that connects them all, is you, Sora."<br>"I'm the key?" Sora asked. Then with a steady hold of his hand, he summoned the key blade.  
>"What about Lara?" Goofy asked out loud.<br>I, too, looked at Sora and summoned my key blade. The handle was wrapped with leather so that my hands wouldn't slip while fighting. The handle was decorated in silver with a vintage skeleton key look to it. The blade erected forward with the same silver, but at the end, my keys prongs were of different lengths. On the side of the blade were two moons and a star; the one near my handle a crescent moon, in the middle of the blade was a star, and the tip of the blade another crescent moon. And to add to all the excellence of my keyblade, the key chain that hung off the end of my blade had three pendants; a star, another crescent moon, and a pink heart with a key hole etched in the middle.  
>"Chosen wielders of the keyblade. You, Sora, are the key that will open the door to light." He looked at me. "And you, Lara, are the key that will close the door to darkness."<br>"When one door closes," I started, looking at Sora.  
>"Another door opens." Sora finished, looking back at me.<br>After a long pause, Yen Sid waved his hand over the desk, and a book magically appeared. "This book contains valuable knowledge you will need on your journey. Study it carefully." The book opened itself and landed facing us. "Once you have finished, we will speak off the enemies you will confront."  
>Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at me deliberately. I started blushing and took the book. "Yeah, yeah. I'm on the case!"<br>Within minutes, I read the three important chapters. _Good thing I'm a fast reader_, I thought happily. After I reread them a second time carefully, I placed the book back on top of Yen Sid's desk. I thought that was it until Sora spoke up again.  
>"How come all of the heartless are still running around?" Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement.<br>"Your past endeavors did prevent an immense amount of heartless from the great darkness, make no mistake about that. However, the heartless are darkness made real. And darkness still lingers in every heart." He continued, "The heartless are fewer, but while darkness still exists in a single heart, it will be difficult to eliminate them."  
>We all sighed gloomily.<br>"But that must mean if every heart was full of light, the heartless would go away." Again with Goofy being the optimistic one. I shook my head while smiling.  
>Yen Sid was polite, and bowed his head at Goofy's prediction. Then he waved his hand gently to the side. "Now it is time to speak of the enemies you will encounter." A Donald Duck popped up, and our Donald gasped. It then transformed into a black heartless. "If one such as you Donald, yields to the darkness in their heart, they too will become a heartless. The heartless are ever seeking to capture new hearts. "<br>Donald sighed sadly, and I put an arm around him comfortingly. Donald's heartless transformed again into the gray, jelly-like creature we first met at Twilight Town.  
>"At times, if someone with a strong heart and will, be they good or evil, becomes a heartless, they will leave behind an empty shell. That empty shell begins to act on its own." I allowed myself to look at the creature longer this time. Yen Sid continued, "An empty vessel whose heart has been stolen away. A spirit that goes on, even as its body fades from existence-for you see, Nobodies do not truly exist at all. They only pretend to have hearts."<br>I nodded my head slowly, as I pondered the Nobodies.  
>"The being you see before you is known as a Dusk." Yen Sid explain. "They are the most common form of Nobody. But there are others. Some frightening, some with unique powers. Be vigilant."<br>We all gaped at Yen Sid. I groaned, not meaning to be so negative. "I just don't see why there are so many powerful enemies."  
>"On your journey, you will encounter an alarming number of Dusks. They will all attempt to harm you. But they are empty shells, doomed to return to darkness." He tried reassuring me, which didn't work.<br>He then waved his hand to make the Dusks go away, only to appear a set of people in black hooded cloaks. "The beings you see before you now are very different. These powerful nobodies have formed a group called Organization Thirteen."  
>"Organization Thirteen." Sora repeated. He looked at Donald, then at Goofy, and then to me. We all shrugged.<br>I said, "I remember seeing the King wearing the exact same coat."  
>Yen Sid nodded. "The King sensed the danger, and journeyed forth to fight it. For you see, Organization Thirteen, unlike heartless who act on instinct, can think and plan. And it seems they are working towards a goal. The King found the dark realm's key blade and used it to close the door. Now he travels world from world fighting the heartless, as he seeks the answer to the riddle of the nobodies and Organization Thirteen."<br>The members disappeared as Sora spoke up. "Then I guess we better go find the King first."  
>Donald put a feathery hand to his beak. "But where could he be?"<br>"We won't know 'til we look!" Goofy smiled.  
>"Yeah." Sora agreed, "And the King must know where Riku is, because the two of them were together in the realm of darkness when we closed the door. After we defeated Ansem."<br>My heart raced as I remembered seeing Riku for the first time. It felt like a dream now, only because it had been so long since the last time I saw him. Closing the door on him was a heartbreak in itself. The last thing he promised whispered in my memories. "I will see you again." I felt a tear come down my cheek silently, and I wiped it away while I came back to the conversation at hand.  
>"Before you go, you will need more suitable traveling clothes. Those look a bit too small for you."<br>Sora and I giggled at each others awkward appearances. His red jumpsuit looked really tight on his body. I looked down at my jean capri shorts and my pink tank top. I knew I had grown some because my capri shorts were higher above my knee than last time, and my tank top wasn't covering my belly button.  
>"There are three good fairies through that door." Yen Sid gestured. "If you ask, I'm sure they will create appropriate garments."<br>We went inside the door on our right.

Inside, we saw three fairies dressed in green, blue, and a red-like pink. I smiled as I waved my hand at them, then slowly put it back down.  
>"I keep forgetting that I don't belong in this world," I sighed miserably.<br>Sora wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "Cheer up, I think you belong pretty fine here."  
>I half smiled. "Thanks, Sora." <em>That's not what I meant though, <em>I thought, not wanting to hurt his feelings.  
>Flora, the red fairy, came closer. "Well look who's here dears. Sora, Donald, and Goofy."<br>I stepped forward, putting out a hand. "I'm Lara, ma'am." I smiled gently.  
>Flora smiled and put a hand towards her sisters. "This is Fauna."<br>The green fairy stepped forward and curtseyed, "How do you do?"  
>"And Merryweather." The blue one stepped forward and curtseyed, "Pleased to meet you, Lara."<br>I smiled and curtseyed back. "We were hoping you guys could prepare us with some new traveling clothes."  
>"Oh if you're looking for clothes, you've come to the right place!" Merryweather giggled happily.<br>They pulled us into the middle of the room and stood in front of Sora and I.  
>"I'll do the designing!" Fauna said. She then pointed her wand at us and a bright light flashed onto our clothes. Our outfits stayed the same, but we were both covered in green.<br>I bit my lip as they all shot different colors at our apparel. I should of remembered that they argued over colors, that's who they were. That's why I had loved them as a child in Sleeping Beauty. After quite a few moments of them bickering over our colors, Sora stomped his foot.  
>"Would you just decide?" He groaned.<br>I giggled as all of them took a gasp. Flora stood up straight. "All right then. Together now dears. And no more squabbling."  
>With a flick from their wands, in synchronized action, their colors formed together on our clothes and a brighter light surrounded the room. When the light dimmed, I took a look at my new clothes. I was wearing form fitting navy blue shorts, a white strapless shirt, and a navy blue vest around my shoulders. I also found that I was wearing some good breathable running shoes, and wondered where my old converse went. My heart locket stayed the same, but I noticed that I had acquired a head band to keep my bangs from my eyes. I looked at Sora to find that he too was wearing navy blue. We both gave a high five to each other. The fairies gave compliments to how we looked.<br>"Now those aren't ordinary garments." Flora explained.  
>Fauna cupped her hands together. "They have very special powers."<br>Flora made two orbs appear before us. "Take the orbs, dear."  
>But when I went to touch it, it glided into my body, and I felt stronger. Another bright light appeared for only seconds, but I noticed it had enough time to make my new found clothes red. Sora and I looked at each other with delight.<br>"Wow!" Donald exclaimed.  
>"Two key blades!" Goofy commented.<br>I looked down to see two of them. My own key blade I had acquired when first coming into this world, and a new one that looked awfully alike to the Kingdom Key.  
>Merryweather said, "This journey is going to be twice as difficult as your last."<br>Both Sora and I sighed. I was glad he felt the same way about the difficulty.  
>"Your garments have very many other powers, but you will have to discover what they are as you continue through your journey."<br>"We'll do out best." I said, holding Sora around the neck.  
>"Thanks a lot." Sora said, smiling.<br>"Oh!" Fauna spoke up. "There's something else for you, from Master Yen Sid."  
>"Oh boy!" Donald exclaimed, and Goofy nodded in agreement.<br>I sighed as we went walking out the door. "Man, Yen Sid just talks, and talks and-,"  
>"Lara, Master Yen Sid-"<br>I interrupted Sora, "The most boring guy ever! And-," I went to continue, but felt a presence behind me. "He's right behind me isn't he?"  
>"Yes he is." Yen Sid crossed his arms. "But frankly I'm in a very good mood."<br>I laughed nervously as I hid behind Sora. Yen Sid pointed out the crescent moon shaped window. The gummi ship hovered patiently.  
>"The gummi ship!" We all exclaimed.<br>"You guys ready to go?" Sora asked.  
>We all nodded too willingly. With joy in our hearts, we all stood in a formal line to Yen Sid, standing up straight and tall.<br>"Now, now, just a moment." Yen Sid said, lowering his hand softly.  
>We all sighed.<br>"Because of your previous endeavors, the worlds have been returned to their original states. That means the pathways between them have disappeared."  
>"So all that hard work, for nothing?" I complained.<br>"How will we get around?" Donald asked sadly.  
>"Do not fear." Yen Sid pointed. "If what the King suspects is true, the worlds have prepared new pathways along which you may travel. These pathways will become clear once you unlock a special gate. How these gates are opened, I do not know. However the key blade will serve as your guide. When a beam of light radiates from the keyblade, return to the gummi ship. Though the worlds may seem far and out of reach, they are nonetheless connected by invisible ties. As do our hearts."<br>Sora took my hand. "Our hearts are connected."  
>I nodded as I agreed.<br>Yen Sid continued, "That is correct. But, be warned. As you proceed, the heartless and nobodies will be using their own paths. Corridors of darkness to travel from world to world. They may be attempting to link these dark pathways to the gates between worlds."  
>"That's not fair!" Donald said angrily.<br>Yen Sid gave a smile in agreement. "Now then, that is all the information I can give you. Go forth, Sora, Lara, Donald, and Goofy. Everyone is waiting!"  
>Suddenly, I couldn't help but feel more than just this worlds weight on my shoulders. Sora patted my back happily.<br>"Okay, let's get going!"  
>We all stood up straight again.<br>"Master Yen Sid." Donald announced.  
>"We sure do appreciate the help." Goofy said, and we all gave a sturdy salute.<p>

Then we ran for our lives to get to the gummi ship!

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><p><strong>This is just a fan fiction, and if you want to review it you can ^_^ I hope you all enjoy reading! I'm pretty excited I'm finally putting this up on the net. <strong>


	3. First Visit: Hollow Bastion

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I just try to make witty banter between characters and I ^_^;**

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><p><strong><em>Hollow Bastion: First Visit<em>**

The gummi ship landed on a familiar world. In fact, Donald, Sora, and Goofy were all smiling at me mischievously.  
>"What?" I asked blushing.<br>"You know what." Sora giggled.  
>"No, I seriously don't know, what-,"<br>"Look!" Sora pointed.  
>There was a very tall building in the distance, and lots of mechanical arms holding ruined buildings. I gasped and put a hand over my mouth happily.<br>"It's Hollow Bastion!" I exclaimed.  
>"Gawrsh, looks kind of different now." Goofy said.<br>"Of course, they are rebuilding the city! That's wonderful!"  
>I giggled and looked around me happily. The last time I was here, was my first time ever entering their world. The first time I met Riku, Kairi, and Sora. Not to mention Donald and Goofy, and Beast! The memories swelled up in my heart, and I couldn't help but cry happily. Sora gave me a hug, and we turned to Donald.<br>"I hope Leon and the gang are doing okay." He said.  
>Goofy then pointed above to one of the rooftops close to where we were standing. Two heartless stared at us, then quickly vanished into their dark portals. "Uh oh. Looks like we have some fighting to do."<br>We all nodded in agreement, then started down the stairway. After walking under a concrete archway, we stood around looking. It was so quiet. Then a mechanical ball floated in front of us, two more appeared at our sides, and all vanished within the next moment. Actually a couple more popped up, making cylinder like tubes, all different lengths, and vanished within minutes.  
>"What's going on?" Donald complained.<br>"That's the towns defense mechanism." A voice answered.  
>Sora looked up at one of the concrete balconies and pointed. "Yuffie!" He called.<br>She smiled and gave us a wave, and then gasped. "Look out!"  
>A dusk appeared next to Sora and slithered by him to behind Goofy. Then four more appeared after that. With a little difficulty, we took out the dusks. I had to use at least two potions though. I noticed that the defense mechanism didn't help us any. Yuffie smiled again and flipped down from the balcony to greet us properly.<br>"I see you're still in top form." She winked.  
>"What'd you expect?" Sora pounded his chest proudly. "Oh, you've never met, but this is Lara."<br>I held out my hand to Yuffie. We had met, except I wasn't in this world, I was watching it. "Hi Yuffie!"  
>"Nice to meet you!"<br>Sora responded, "Looks like you're doing okay."  
>"Well what did <em>you<em> expect." She asked, giggling.  
>"How are the others?" Donald asked.<br>And Yuffie responded happily. "They're great!"  
>"Hey Yuffie," Sora started, "Have you seen the King and Riku?"<br>She started to walk off, which made me a little mad. "Nope." And then my mood soured more. She skipped off, then turned around. "But, I had a feeling I'd see you guys again."  
>I went to grumble and complain but Sora held up his hand in a mimicking way. "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other."<br>"Is that supposed to be Leon?" She asked, holding back a laugh.  
>Donald, Goofy and I started laughing as Sora rubbed his upper lip.<br>"Everybody's working on stuff at over at Merlin's house. Come on!" She ran off again, and it took me a while to catch up. She was too hyper. I guess I never realized that.  
>Upon entering Merlin's house, three other people looked up. Leon, Cid, and Aerith.<br>"Meet the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!" Yuffie held out a hand in announcement.  
>"We missed you!" Aerith clapped her hands together.<br>Cid rubbed his nose. "Well, if you ain't in top shape."  
>"I knew it."<br>"Knew what?" Sora asked Leon.  
>"A while back, everyone started to remember you guys, all at the same time." He then looked at me. "All except for you." He pointed to me.<br>I blushed. "Sorry."  
>"Lara entered this world back when Hollow Bastion wasn't a city." Sora said, putting an arm around me.<br>"Is that so? What's the story?"  
>I placed my hands together as I took a deep breath in. "I'm not sure I understand myself." I rubbed the back of my head. "Kairi's heart was needed to unlock Kingdom Hearts. When Sora released his heart so that Kairi could have hers back, my heart was connected in a different way and I found myself transporting into this world. As it turns out, I am a key blade wielder meant to lock and close doors. And my heart has also bonded with Riku's." I started blushing. "Kingdom Hearts may be light, but light comes from a passion, a desire. That desire to glow brighter is Love." I started giggling shyly, "Or so that's what I've come up with."<br>"No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again." Aerith said, and I nodded smiling.  
>"So where have you guys been all this time?" Yuffie asked, placing his hands on her hips.<br>"We were sleeping." Goofy smiled.  
>"Where? In cold storage?" Cid asked sarcastically.<br>"You could say that!" I giggled.  
>"It doesn't matter. Everyone's together again." Aerith said happily.<br>"So uhm," Sora spoke up, "We're trying to find Riku and the King. Have you seen them?" They shook their heads solemnly. Sora sighed. "Right."  
>"Sorry, but let us know if there's anything we can do to help, okay?" Aerith said, speaking softly.<br>"Thank you." I said, and Cid scared me.  
>"Don't go thanking us just yet!"<br>"Hollow Bastion's got a problem. A _big_ problem." Leon said, which is the first time I've heard him exaggerate on any word.  
>"You mean like nobodies and heartless?" Sora asked, confidently.<br>"That's right!"  
>"Sounds like you could use our help." I chuckled.<br>"Then let's cut to the chase." Leon stepped closer. "We were hoping the four of you could give us a hand around here."  
>"Like we're going to say no?" Sora replied, pounding his fist to his chest.<br>Leon gave a short laugh. "I forgot who I'm dealing with."  
>"Hey, what do you mean by that?" Donald gave Leon a crusty.<br>"Just think of it as a sort of 'Leon compliment'." Aerith giggled.  
>Leon stepped from the conversation circle and went to the door, opening it wide. "Follow me to the bailey, there's something you need to see."<br>Just as I stepped forward, a cloud of magic appeared, and when it vanished, there stood Merlin.  
>"Oh, I thought it was you. Right on time."<br>"It's Merlin!" Donald said happily.  
>We went to him and shared happy greetings around.<br>"Sora and the gang said they'd help out." Yuffie stated proudly.  
>"Splendid! We'll count on you."<br>"Right." We all nodded our heads.  
>Merlin continued, "Ah, yes, did you give them your cards, dear?"<br>Aerith put a hand to her mouth gently. "Oh!" She pulled out four purple cards from her pocket. "Here, these are presents for you. Leon thought you might like to have them."  
>I held mine's up in the dim light.<p>

Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee  
><strong>Honorary Member<strong>_  
>Lara<em>

"Membership cards!"  
>"Wait, how come I have one? I thought you guys didn't know who I was?"<br>Aerith nodded. "We didn't, but when we printed out the cards, this one came with Sora's. When we didn't have a clue who you were, we figured you must have been connected with Sora somehow seeing as how your card came out right after his."  
>"Huh," I said, smiling at the card. "I'm very thankful the machine knew who I was."<br>"Thanks Leon-?" Sora turned around.  
>I gasped. "Oh yeah! We're supposed to meet him at the bailey!"<p>

We left the house, only to fight more heartless on our way to the bailey. This time the defense mechanism actually helped out. It must not be programmed to fight nobodies. We had to also climb a bunch of stairs to get to the bailey. I felt like it took us a while to get here because of our fighting heartless, but it was just a block away from Merlin's house. There standing in the second terrace was Leon. Was it just me, or was the light hitting him just right that made him look ungodly sexy? I swallowed and told myself to get a grip. Leon was out of my league, and I had Riku anyhow.  
>"Look at that." Was all he said, and he pointed out amongst the land.<br>There was Maleficent's Castle, surrounded by hoards of heartless. My heart sank, knowing I couldn't defeat all of them. Even Sora gave a defeated gasp.  
>Leon explained, "We want to restore Hollow Bastion to what it used to be. Who knows, maybe even something better. There's still a lot to do, but I'm sure we can handle everything. Except for that-," He paused and pointed out towards two moving dots. "And that."<br>The dots, when you looked carefully, were two dusks slithering their way towards her castle.  
>"Oh!" All four of us gasped.<br>"We can handle them!" Sora said, tapping his chest proudly.  
>"So you know what's going on then?"<br>Sora held out his hands to explain. "There's this guy, Pete, who's been going around plotting with the heartless. But he's not even smart enough to tie his own shoes." I smirked at the insult of Pete. "The ones we need to worry about are the nobodies."  
>"And those Organization Thirteen guys in charge, too." Goofy finished.<br>"You called?" A deep voice rang out.  
>We all looked around wildly, then Sora dashed from the bailey and into another open part of Hollow Bastion. I ran after him, Donald and Goofy taking up the rear. We stopped running when we heard another voice call out.<br>"You're doing well."  
>Sora took out his keyblade angrily. "Who's that?"<br>I, too, grabbed my keyblade and held it firmly, looking around. My heart pendant glowed furiously.  
>"This calls for a celebration." The voice from before said.<br>Just then, down the stairs to our right, two dusks appeared. Donald and Goofy took off after them. Just as I went to help, two other dusks appeared between Sora and Leon. Leon ran to the gates at the entrance of the bailey, shutting them fast and tight.  
>"Don't let them get to the others in town!" He growled, and Sora and I nodded, turning around to find many more dusks appear before us.<br>Not wanting to let Sora down, I put in more strength than I thought I had. But I was running out of potions. It felt like the dusks were never going to stop trying to get past the gates. I was to my limit with these guys.  
>"Limit," I repeated out loud.<br>With as much magic as I had, I gathered it up inside me and flashed from dusk to dusk, slashing them apart with my keyblade. I went so fast, I could barely keep up with myself. I landed to the ground with a thud and shook my head softly.  
>"Don't fight past your limits, Lara." Leon said, holding me in his arms.<br>I held my head roughly. "Should of warned me," I grunted, "Earlier."  
>Sora gave me a potion, and I drank it carefully, feeling my body recharge. Leon looked at me questioningly, and I nodded my head, letting him know I was okay. He put me down on my two feet, and I swayed but stood up tall.<br>"Remind me never to use a limit break again." I chuckled uneasily.  
>"The keyblade is a truly marvelous weapon," The voice came back, this time outside the bailey where we left Donald and Goofy. We all three ran towards it, looking around again to spot man behind the voice. "Were it only in more capable hands."<br>I heard laughter coming from other voices, and Sora called out angrily. "Show yourselves!"  
>On top of the wall adjacent from us, a black portal appeared to let out a person cloaked in a black hood. I heard Donald and Goofy approach us from the side, and we all watched as the man in black lifted his arms. To our surprise, five other members appeared around the first.<br>"Organization Thirteen!"  
>"I wonder where the other seven are." I growled.<br>We all looked at each other and grabbed out weapons tighter.  
>"Good, now we can settle this!" Sora yelled.<br>The first member that appeared moved, "What a shame. And here I thought we could be friends."  
>I scoffed as they laughed and retreated within their portals.<br>"Stop!" Donald demanded, and ran towards the set of stairs. He was stopped by another member popping out of nowhere.  
>"What's the big idea?" I shouted.<br>"Oopsy daisy." The member replied.  
>"Move!" Sora demanded. I had never seen him this angry before.<br>"Now do you think that's polite, shutting me down like that?" The member said, his voice full of cockiness.  
>"I said get out of the way!"<br>The member scoffed. "As if! You can talk all you want, but that won't change a thing."  
>"Then we're gonna make you move!" Donald said, and we all tightened the grips on our weapons.<br>"See, that would work – if I were any old dude. Except I'm not! I'm with the Organization. Nothing 'any old' about me."  
>"Says the wimp who let his nobody flunkies do all the fighting." Sora retaliated back.<br>He crossed his arms. "Oh dear. I think you got the wrong impression."  
>"Aww, you gonna cry?" I asked, speaking baby talk in a sarcastic tone.<br>"As if! Why don't I remind you how tough the crowd you're dealing with really is?"  
>Sora stood up, dazed. "Remind me?" Then Sora suddenly gave him an ugly look.<br>The member laughed and pointed. "That's right! He used to give me that same exact look!"  
>"He who?" I yelled back.<br>Sora shook his head, "I guess you think you can psych me out by saying really random stuff!"  
>"Gee, I just don't know." The member said, getting into a fighting stance.<br>After a few awkward seconds of waiting for his weapon to appear, the member suddenly stood up, and backed into a portal. "Be a good boy now!"  
>"Wait!" Donald jumped towards him. He landed harshly to the ground, the member disappearing altogether. "Nuts, he got away."<br>I ran to Donald's side, helping him up. "C'mon gang."  
>"That was weird." Sora said, looking at us. "'Who' gave him that same look?"<br>I shook my head, trying to piece it together in my head. "I have absolutely no idea what that member is talking about. He confused me and he was talking to you."  
>"You know, I think he was just trying to confuse you, Sora." Goofy comforted.<br>"Yeah, you're right. Only one me!" Sora pointed to his chest proudly.  
>He took out his card and admired it, repeating the words on the back. Suddenly, it started to glow and take flight into the air. We all gasped, even Leon looked stunned, as our keyblades started to glow.<br>"What's this?" Leon asked.  
>"I think," Goofy paused, and they all backed away to give Sora and I room.<br>It was a good thing the did, because when we stood facing each other, a giant kingdom crown glowed underneath us, and a strange magical wind took place of the area. Light and magic swirled around our bodies, and the key blade felt heavier than usual, so I grasped it with both hands. The card flew between us, and with a bright light, a key hole projected into the sky. With a swing of my key blade, now feeling lighter, a circle of magic appeared around it and light beamed towards the key hole in the sky. I mimicking Sora's moves, watched as the key hole glowed brighter. When it finally dimmed, everything turned back to normal. Donald, Goofy, and Leon came back closer to us.  
>"Oh, now I get it!" Sora exclaimed.<br>I nodded my head in agreement. "That must have been the gate Yen Sid was talking about."  
>"Oh boy!" Donald said, finding the gummi ship landing near us.<br>"Sorry to run, Leon!" Sora said, "But other worlds are calling."  
>Leon nodded his head at us. "Organization Thirteen. They look tough. Be careful out there."<br>We nodded back in respect. "See you soon." Sora said.  
>I gave a little wave goodbye. "Nice to meet you, Leon! I'll visit and stay longer, promise!"<br>He just gave me a gentle wave of his hand.  
>We all headed back towards the gummi ship with new found vigor.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>R&amp;R 3<strong>


	4. First Visit: Land of Dragons

**All credit goes to Disney and Square Enix. I just write fan fictions ^_^**

* * *

><p><em>Land of Dragons: First Visit<em>

The gummi ship landed on a nice flat plane in forest. A forest of bamboo trees and Chinese like foliage. I was starting to have a déjà-vu feeling again. We walked further into the forest, when Goofy stopped. I looked towards the giant rock, and Mulan cowering in fear. _Mulan!_ So the creature's shadow on the rock was obviously-  
>"A heartless?" Donald questioned, and the boys huddled in a group without me.<br>"Hey," I complained, as Sora pounded his fist into his hand.  
>"Let's get the jump on him!"<br>Sora and Donald ran into action, as Goofy called out, "Maybe we better look before we leap?"  
>Mulan and Mushu gasped in shock as Sora and Donald came running at them. They slowed down at least, and Goofy and I caught up with them.<br>"Is that Mushu?" Goofy asked.  
>"That's right, I know you heard of me!" Mushu threatened, "I'm little, lethal and legendary! Now you all scram before I get my dragon dander up!"<br>"Mushu, we missed you!" Sora replied, happily.  
>Still confused, Mushu continued, "Yeah well you better hope I miss you or you're-," He paused and looked at all of us. "You're Sora, Donald, and Goofy!"<br>"You know them?"  
>"Know them? Man we used to kick all kinds of heartless butt together. Because I'm a mighty dragon, right?"<br>Sora giggled. "Yeah, something like that."  
>Mulan got up from the ground and smiled.<br>"And you are?" Sora asked first.  
>"I'm Mulan." She started, but then stumbled with her words while trying to sound like a man. "I-I mean uhm."<br>"Ping!" Mushu helped.  
>"Mulan Ping?" Donald doubted.<br>Mulan shook her head. "Just Ping. I am Ping, son of Fa Zhou."  
>"You know Mushu?" Sora asked.<br>"Of course." I spoke up, feeling left out. "That's her family's guardian."  
>"We didn't know we were borrowing some one as important as a family guardian."<br>Mulan looked at me curiously. "How did you know?"  
>I stuttered and blushed. "Oh, well. Isn't it obvious? You're going to war to bring honor to your family."<br>I blew out a relieved breath as Mushu continued. "Well since you borrowed me for a while, that puts you four up to your eyeballs in debt to Ping here."  
>"Mushu," Mulan started.<br>"Ah, they don't mind. Ain't that right?"  
>"Sounds fair." Sora agreed.<br>"See, Ping here was just on his way to join the Imperial Army."  
>"Would you join us?" Mulan asked. "It might help if I have guys like you to fit in with."<br>"That's the one problem here." I pointed out. "I can't help you out if I'm a woman. Unless, I pretend." I exaggerated the word and Mulan blushed.  
>"You're pretending to be a boy aren't you?" Goofy said.<br>We all stood in silence, and then Sora and Donald hung their mouths open. They both gasped. "You're a girl?"  
>Mulan smiled and patted me on the back. "If they didn't notice my disguise, I'm sure we can come up with something for you." She tapped a finger to her lips. "But you might have to make a very big change."<br>I reached up to my hair, remembering how she disguised herself as a boy. "You're going to cut it aren't you?"  
>"I had to make the same sacrifice." She nodded and handed me her sword.<br>I nodded and grabbed the sword with one hand, pulling my long, brown hair over my left shoulder. With one quick slice, I felt the blade cut through my tough, thick hair. The sudden shortness of it scared me, but it felt so much lighter.  
>"You didn't have to, we could of come up with another solution." Sora said.<br>I let the strands fall from my fingers. "I know, but seeing as how I've changed so much all ready in this world, I think it was time for a further change."  
>I removed my head band and took one of the ribbons from Mulan's hand. I wrapped my short hair in a bun.<br>"Well it's not perfect, but it'll do." Mulan smiled.  
>"What about armor for me? You guys think you could sneak inside the camp and grab one that's not in use?"<br>Mushu nodded. "Leave it to me, girl."  
>He snuck away through the bushes, and we waited. Mulan tapped my shoulder suddenly, almost making me jump.<br>"Yes?"  
>"How is it that you know so much about China?"<br>I giggled nervously. "Well, actually I know a great deal about most stories of other worlds. My name is Lara, by the way. I didn't introduce myself properly before."  
>"You know about other words?" Sora questioned, looking at me.<br>I bit my lip, not really wanting to get into this discussion. It was already weird enough that I came from a world where my own friends were video game characters. But to tell them that their whole world wasn't real, that was considered meddling.  
>"I can't really say much about it Sora. It would be meddling." I sighed and looked back at the Imperial Camp. "Even with dressing me up as a male warrior is meddling, because I'm not apart of this story."<br>"Yes, but you are a key blade wielder, so that makes you a part of the whole story." Sora reassured me, and I smiled back at him.  
>"Thanks, Sora."<br>"I've got the armor!" Mushu called out, handing me a suit that looked like Mulan's, except it was a more blue color.  
>I slipped in to the armor with ease, and placed the helm on my head. I grabbed my keyblade and looked at the others. "How do I look?"<br>"Like a boy!" Sora gave me a thumbs up.  
>Mulan smiled at Mushu. "I think it's working."<br>Mushu shook his head. "I don't know. Sora would fall for anything."  
>"I'm right here!" Sora complained.<br>I giggled, but in the back of my mind I wondered if I was doing the right thing.

We reached the camp, and walked further on, Mushu telling Mulan how to walk like a man. I shook my head and told Mulan to just walk normally, she would just cause more attention to herself. Walking further into the camp, a line was started at the food tent. Sora stepped in line when Yao pushed him aside.  
>"About time we get some grub!" He complained.<br>"Hey no cutting!" Sora shouted.  
>"Sora, don't!" I said, going to grab his arm, and he shrugged me off.<br>"Get out!" Donald started up.  
>Yao turned around and punched Sora. I growled. "Hey! You can't do that!"<br>But Donald jumped onto him for me. They started a fight there on the ground, and when I went to separate them, Ling pushed Yao onto us again. "Hey, a spot in line!"  
>I tried to get back up, only to have all of us pushed to the ground when Chien-Po bumped us on accident with his large belly. "I wonder what they are serving for lunch." He rubbed his stomach.<br>"Knuckle sandwiches!" Yao threatened. He then jumped onto Ling and started punching him.  
>I shook my head as Donald and Sora stepped into the fight. I was pulling on both Sora and Donald roughly, trying to make them break it up. That's when "Ping" spoke up.<br>"Please!"  
>We all stopped shoving to look at her. Ling mimicked sarcastically. "Please?"<br>"What a girl!" Yao teased harshly.  
>Ping curled her fingers. "Uh, knock it off!"<br>"Knock what off?" Yao chuckled.  
>"You punched him!" "You punched me!" Sora and I shouted.<br>"You cut in line!" Donald also stated.  
>Ling scoffed, "What a shrimp!"<br>Ping quickly covered Mushu up in her armor, stopping him from making the situation worse. "Let's just get back in line."  
>"Whose side are you on? I just got slugged!" Sora yelled.<br>"Want some more?" Yao threatened, raising a fist.  
>I growled and went to summon my key blade when we heard a voice yell at us. "Soldiers! Get back in line!"<br>All of us stood behind one another, Sora being the lead behind Yao. I stood behind Donald. Shang went up the line and looked at us menacingly. I tried to keep my eyes ahead of me, but I was never really good at obeying orders. I started messing with my pendant when I felt it turn warm. I gasped.  
>"Heartless!" I said, and sure enough, five of them popped up.<br>The rest of the soldiers ran off, for some odd reason, and we all grabbed our weapon, Ping included.  
>"Ping, I hope you're ready." Sora said, looking around.<br>After the five appeared, eight more came in their place. It was exhausting, but I felt happier working along side Mulan. She may have been trying to fit in amongst boys, but I felt the need to have girl companionship too. And she wasn't half bad at fighting off heartless. When the battle ended, Captain Shang came up to us, demanding our names.  
>"I'm Goofy,"<br>"Sora,"  
>"Donald."<br>"I'm Michael." I spoke up. "And this is Ping."  
>"Ping needs to go home."<br>"What?" I complained.  
>"He fought the heartless like they were nothing." Donald added.<br>"Just give me another chance, Captain." Ping pleaded.  
>Shang blew out a breath.<br>Sora tried convincing the captain more, "If you give us a mission, we'll show you how well the five of us work together."  
>Shang looked at us, "So you want to be tested?" We nodded. Shang then rolled out a map between his hands, showing us the mountain. "Our orders are to ambush Shan-Yu's army on their way here. They should be coming through the mountain pass."<br>"We'll crush them!" Donald exclaimed.  
>Shang scoffed, "Doubtful. You five will be the advance party. Scout out the mountain for my troops."<br>"That's it? No problem, right?" He looked over at Ping.  
>Ping stuttered, "Right."<br>Shang rolled up the map. "Remember, the smallest missions may have the greatest importance. Stay alert!"  
>"Sir!" We all shouted, giving a salute.<p>

When walking up to the beginning of the mountain, a shiver ran down my back. I looked up to the sky and saw Shan-Yu's bird fly above our heads and out of sight. We got to the beginning of the slope of the mountain when heartless showed up. After we had fought off a dozen, I started getting dizzy.  
>"We are just wasting our time on the heartless, I'm running out of morale to go on." I complained.<br>"Then we should just work on clearing the pass?" Ping questioned.  
>I nodded, smiling. "Yes, that's exactly what we'll do! That is the mission! Captain never said we had to fight off the heartless!"<br>I grabbed my keyblade, and with Sora at my side, we attacked the rocks blocking the way, bursting though them like they were pebbles.  
>"Ping, Donald, watch our backs!" I said, after getting hit in the side by a heartless.<br>With Goofy covering their backs, and Donald and Ping watching ours, the mountain pass was finally clear of all obstacles. We rested at the top of the pass, out of breath but filled with relief. Yao, Ling, and Chien Po walked up the mountain, stopping to talk to us.  
>"Hey, you!" He pointed to Ping, "You ain't half bad!"<br>"A man among men!" Ling added.  
>I smiled, patting Ping on the back. Ping nodded, "Thanks!"<br>They walked off and Ping hung her head. "But the Captain,"  
>I interrupted her, "The captain is an idiot for not seeing how well you're doing."<br>Shang responded, making me flinch, "The captain is standing right behind you."  
>I blew out a breath. "Why is it they are always behind me?" I mumbled.<br>"Ping still did a great job." Goofy added.  
>We nodded in agreement. Shang shook his head in defeat. "I'll let you join my troops. But I'm still not convinced."<br>"Why?" I growled, but Ping held up her hand.  
>"It's all right Michael, I'll find a way to show him what I'm made of." She looked back at Shang with determination.<br>"That's the spirit, Ping." Shang nodded his head with a smile.  
>"Sir!" Ping saluted.<br>I scoffed. Shang came around to face me. "Is there a problem, solider?"  
>I bit my tongue and stood up straight. "None, sir!"<br>"You'd do well to keep your comments to yourself. Or I'll have you booted from the army. That's an order." He threatened, walking up the mountain pass.  
>I blew out a breath and rolled my eyes. "Great, just what I need. Another teacher on my back complaining about my work."<br>"Teacher?" Sora questioned, as we started walking up the pass.  
>I waved my hand away, letting him know I'd talk about it later. Up the mountain pass, there was a village where most of the soldiers set up camp. I didn't notice that the other worlds had days and nights, and Mulan's world was definitely getting dark.<br>"So, should we set up camp?" I said, rubbing my hands. It was cold up here on the mountain, but the snow reminded me of my own world.  
>"How should we do the tents?" Sora asked, bringing a hand to his chin.<br>"We could have a tent each?"  
>I shook my head at Donald, "No, that would take up too much space. How about a girl and a boy tent?"<br>"Quiet!" Sora covered my mouth hurriedly. "Do you want someone to hear you?"  
>"But it's a good idea." Ping said, setting up the two tents with Donald and Goofy's help.<br>Later that night, after half the team was asleep, Sora sat with me around the fire. I held up my hands to the flames carefully.  
>I chuckled and talked softly to Sora. "You know, this snow reminds me of my own world."<br>"It does?"  
>I nodded, then I felt really homesick.<br>"What's your world like?" Sora then asked, looking at me.  
>I looked at him, then back down at the ground. "Well," I cleared my throat so I could whisper better. "We have lots of different lands on our world. Like how we travel through gummi ship? Well in my world, we have vehicles that take us to different lands. Because they are connected."<br>"I thought you said that the worlds would always be against each other?" Sora punched my arm lightly.  
>I giggled, "I did. But even though the lands are connected, people are greedy." I shook my head and half smiled at Sora. "There is more darkness in hearts in my world than any world out there. I'm glad I'm here in this world. But I know someday I have to go back."<br>"That makes you sad?"  
>I shrugged. "Yes. Because in this world, I feel like I'm important. I feel like I'm invincible and can do anything. In my world, not a lot of people realize I exist. And Riku," I smiled, thinking about him. "Riku makes me feel a happiness I never thought I could have. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if you all visited my world. But then I know that it would be a very bad idea."<br>"Why? I'd like to visit all worlds out there. Any and all, I want to see them."  
>"Yeah, I know, you were talking to Kairi about this." I said, remembering from the first game.<br>"How did you know?"  
>I giggled and got up from sitting on the ground, stretching my legs. "Just a very good guess." I yawned. "We better get some sleep. I don't know what is happening tomorrow."<br>Sora stood up and patted my arm softly. "All right, you have a good sleep."  
>I nodded, then looked down. Hurriedly, I wrapped Sora in my arms in a tight hug. Then I crawled into the tent, lying down next to Mulan.<p>

In the morning, Mulan softly nudged me awake. I groaned at first, then realized she was trying to be silent.  
>"What's going on?" I whispered.<br>"Get your armor. Mushu says he has something important for us to do without the others knowing."  
>"Others as in?" I paused, waiting for her to finish.<br>"The other soldiers. We'll be going with Sora, Donald, and Goofy."  
>I nodded, putting on the armor I wore from yesterday. When we exited the tent, we stood at the entrance of the village.<br>"Okay girl, here's your chance! I just saw a real shady guy, and I know it's Shan-Yu!"  
>Mushu emphasized on the word "know". I crossed my arms as Sora and Ping gasped.<br>"That's the leader of the Hun army!" Sora said.  
>"We should tell the captain," Ping said, and Sora nodded in agreement.<br>"Wait a minute! Just hold your horses," Mushu exclaimed, holding his hands in the air. "Let's use our heads for a second. Now why are we here?" Mushu looked at each of us. "To make the captain see Mulan's – I mean Ping's talents. And bring honor to her family."  
>"Oh!" I dropped my arms. "So you want us to fight Shan-Yu and bring him back here like a trophy so the captain knows how great Ping is."<br>"Just tracking the guy down should earn us some stars." Mushu agreed. "Capitan Musclehead will have to notice my girl!"  
>We all looked at Ping.<br>Ping nodded, curling her fist into her body. "Let's go!"  
>Mushu curled up around Ping's body, tucking himself into her armor. "That's my girl. I spotted him just outside the village in a cave."<br>We all nodded, and headed outside the village limits.

We entered the long, dark, narrow cave entrance. I figured with all how long it was, there would be more to it. But to our dismay, it only led to a circular room.  
>"Dead end." I said, looking around. There were little shelves with candles lit, and at the end of the big room was an alter. I presumed this was a shrine for fallen soldiers.<br>"There's nobody here." Donald complained.  
>"You're crazy, check again!" Mushu said, looking around.<br>"Oh well." Donald waved his hands and walked off.  
>"Hey wait for me, Donald!" Goofy called out, and went after him.<br>Sora turned around as well, taking my hand. "Hey wait up!"  
>But just as he spoke, the cave rumbled with a violent shake. Ping, Mushu, Sora and I gasped. When we went to run, a magical shield appeared, blocking our way from Goofy and Donald. They called to us, but we couldn't hear them. I banged on the force field, trying to yell for Goofy and Donald. At that moment, heartless came up from the ground, their little black bodies swaying insect like. I sighed as I whipped out my keyblade.<br>"I have a horrible feeling we just became a decoy."  
>And we fought more than a dozen at least. Thankfully, I didn't use my limits, but I did have to drink three potions. When Ping fought the last heartless, the force field fell from the exit. I panted as I watched Sora pat Ping on the back.<br>"Nice moves Ping, you were amazing."  
>I smiled and nodded, as Goofy and Donald came up to us.<br>"You guys okay?" Goofy asked, patting my back.  
>I nodded. Sora spoke up, "Yeah, thanks to Ping."<br>Mushu jumped from Mulan's shoulder to the ground. "C'mon everyone. We gotta report this to the captain!"  
>"But Shan-Yu wasn't here." Ping responded.<br>Mushu waved his hands, "Please, he's old news! We're going to tell the captain how a thousand heartless showed up and Ping took out almost every one of them!"  
>We laughed and headed out of the cave in a hurry.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued...<strong>


	5. Land of Dragons: Part 2

But when we arrived, the whole village was burnt down. I slowed my walk and looked around in guilt.  
>"What happened?" I asked sadly.<br>Ping ran ahead gasping. We all came to her side to find Captain Shang kneeling in pain. He grunted as he wearily got up.  
>"Don't overdo it, captain." Sora said.<br>"It's just a scratch." Shang grunted in pain as he kneeled back down to the ground.  
>Ping kneeled down next to him, "Captain, the enemy, where did they go?"<br>He groaned, "They went toward the summit."  
>Ping stood up. "We'll stop them!"<br>Goofy rubbed the back of his head. "It kind of is our fault."  
>I dropped my shoulders, feeling guilty again. That's when Mushu sprang from Ping's armor. "You mean my fault."<br>Donald waved his hands, "Not uh!"  
>"Shan-Yu and the heartless did this, not us!" Sora said, patting my back.<br>Then he knelt down to Shang. "Captain, if you track down the villagers, we'll handle this."  
>Captain Shang nodded, and got up again, this time more stable.<br>We all looked around at the burnt village when Sora looked towards the mountain. "Let's go."  
>We all nodded and followed his lead. There at the most highest part of the mountain, we stood at its bottom. You could see the Imperial City from here. But we looked at the top of the mountain, seeing a dark figure loom down at us.<br>"It's Shan-Yu!" I gasped.  
>"How do you know?" Ping asked, watching him warily.<br>That's when the hawk flew just above our heads, making us duck. "That's how. His stupid bird!" I pointed.  
>The hawk flew towards Shan-Yu and landed perfectly on his shoulder. I listened more and heard helicopter like noises come from Shan-Yu's direction. I went to ask if anyone else could hear it when down the line from both sides of Shan-Yu were nothing but yellow flying heartless. All Shan-Yu had to do was point his sword and a waterfall of them came from the mountain and towards us.<br>"We'll have to split up, gang." I said, grabbing my keyblade. "This is going to hurt, but take out as many as you can."  
>I gripped my keyblade steadily as I waited for them to come at me.<p>

One hundred and seventeen heartless. I was very sure that's how many I had fought. With a ton of them out of the way, I handed Goofy and Ping potions to get them going again. We all looked back up at the mountain, to see Shan-Yu still standing there. And more heartless sprang up from behind him. I groaned.  
>"How long is this going to take?" I yelled.<br>With that, Shan-Yu came running down the mountain, two long rows of heartless behind him. I gripped my keyblade harder when Yao yelled.  
>"Stand back!"<br>"We'll handle this!" Ling added.  
>They were carrying a mighty explosive dragon bomb. I put my keyblade away and patted Ping on the back.<br>"Do it!" I whispered, and she ran from my side and grabbed the dynamite.  
>With Mushu by her side, I watched her grab him and light the dynamite. He flew up into the air with the stick of dynamite, cursing her as he went, and hit the mountain next to one we were standing on.<br>"Yes!" I heard Ping exclaim.  
>"Captain?"<br>We all looked to see the captain heading straight towards us, which would soon be covered by an avalanche of snow thanks to Ping. Ping ran from her spot and grabbed the captain, making the other soldiers follow in pursuit. Goofy grabbed Sora and I grabbed Donald. With an insane amount of luck, we managed to dodge the avalanche.

I found it entirely too easy that Shang hadn't found out we were women yet. Then I shrugged it off.  
>Shang took Ping's hand in thanks. "From now on, you have my trust."<br>"It was nothing." She stuttered.  
>"I'm glad we are all okay." I said, looking around for more heartless.<br>That's when Mushu popped up out of the snow, complaining. "That's it, Mulan! Let's go home! I can't take this any more, girl!"  
>"Mushu!" Ping threatened.<br>Mushu realized he was in front of the captain and shut his mouth. It was already too late.  
>"Mulan, a woman?"<br>He looked at Ping, but she stood away from him. I stood between them when he started to raise his voice to her.  
>Sora, Donald, and Goofy came up to us, but I shook my head.<br>"You all knew didn't you? That Ping was really a woman in disguise?"  
>"Of course! But it was because I planned it." I spoke up.<br>"Michael?"  
>"No." I said, taking out the bun in my hair. I slipped out of my armor to reveal my girlish clothes. "I'm Lara. Another woman."<br>"I can't believe you all lied to me."  
>He stood with his back to us, as I stood next to Mulan. "The punishment for high treason and dishonoring the army is death."<br>"You wouldn't," I started to threaten.  
>He interrupted me. "Get out of my sight. Now."<br>"But captain-," Sora spoke up.  
>All he responded with was, "My debt is repaid."<br>He walked off, signaling the rest of the soldiers to follow him. "The emperor is waiting. Move out!" He demanded.  
>They all walked off, leaving us five behind. I hung my shoulders down and Mushu wrapped around Mulan's shoulders. "Mulan, I blew it."<br>I petted Mushu gently. "It's not your fault. I knew it was bound to happen sooner or later."

Mulan got out of her own armor, throwing her ribbon to the side. She smiled at us. "Thank you everyone. Sorry I got you in trouble."  
>"No big deal," I said, waving my hand.<br>"So Ping, I mean. Mulan. What are you going to do now?" Sora asked, rubbing the back of his head.  
>Mulan started walking off, "Go back home."<br>"You know your daddy's going to be steamed as a chicken dumpling." Mushu added.  
>Mulan hung her shoulders and stopped walking. That's when Sora grabbed all of us in a tight hug.<br>"Relax! We'll take our share of the blame."  
>I giggled as Mulan smiled back at us. "You are all wonderful friends."<br>We started to turn around the corner of the upper circle of the mountain when I felt another shiver crawl down my spine.  
>"Something's wrong." I said, stopping in my tracks.<br>"What?" Sora asked.  
>I held a finger to my lips. "Wait for it."<br>We all stood in silence, looking around when finally we heard a loud shriek from Shan-Yu. When we overlooked the edge from where we were standing, we saw Shan-Yu rise from the snow and a dozen more heartless surround him.  
>"Shan-Yu!" Mulan exclaimed.<br>"He's alive?"  
>Mulan nodded. "He's headed for the Imperial City! We've got to warn Shang!"<br>"Then we better run fast!" I said, all ready running down the mountain.  
>After fighting countless heartless, we ran into the Imperial City, seeing some of the soldiers from camp ahead. We ran to the beginning of the line to Shang.<br>"Shang!"  
>He slowed down and glared at Mulan. "What do you want?"<br>"Shan-Yu is alive, he's headed this way!"  
>"And why should I believe you?"<br>"Because she's telling the truth!" Sora exclaimed.  
>"You trusted Ping. Why is Mulan any different?" I asked, looking at Shang with an equal glare.<br>Suddenly we heard the cry of Shan-Yu's hawk, flying at a great height in the sky. It was heading towards one of the gargoyles that sat on top of the palace.  
>"No," I said out loud. "Not a gargoyle, it's-,"<br>Shan-Yu stood up, making the rest of us gasp. He then jumped from the roof and headed towards the palace.  
>"Guard the palace! Do not let the enemy get anywhere near the emperor!" The trio ran up there shouting, but some soldiers stayed behind. "That's an order!"<br>They turned into heartless! We stood between Shang and the heartless, our weapons out. Sora turned to the captain quickly, "Captain, we're secure the courtyard, and you can save the emperor!"  
>When Shang didn't leave, Donald spoke up, "That's an order!" He exclaimed.<br>He nodded and ran towards the palace.  
>We all put our backs up against each other as heartless came at us. It wasn't so bad this time around, because the five of us worked well together as a team. And Mulan had more hope in her heart, and fought with tremendous power! After defeating the heartless, Mulan turned towards Sora. "The emperor is in danger!"<br>"No time to lose then!" He replied.  
>We headed towards the palace, only to see Shan-Yu threatening the Emperor with his sword at his throat.<br>"Now you'll bow to me!" He growled.  
>We held our weapons threateningly as he looked at us. He looked at Mulan the longest. Suddenly Shang dropped from the roof and gave Shan-Yu a punch to the face! I would of cheered him on, but he rushed the emperor inside the palace, having Ling and Chein Po shut the door behind them. We ran towards the door for extra backup, guarding it with our lives. Mulan whipped out her sword menacingly as Shan-Yu growled at us.<br>"It ends now!" She demanded, holding her sword steadily.  
>Sora nodded, "Right now!"<br>Shan-Yu stood tall and laughed evilly, a heartless, dark-like glow came around him. My necklace was so warm I thought it would burn through my shirt. Then he headed straight for us. Mulan blocked him off with her sword, but he swung her aside like a limp doll. And with his new like powers, he kept summoning forth heartless to break down the doors of the palace. Every time Donald and I would get rid of the heartless, even more would pop up. I then thought of a simple plan. The heartless only come to Shan-Yu's call. We needed to attack Shan-Yu and only Shan-Yu.  
>"Donald, Goofy, watch the doors! Sora, you need to attack Shan-Yu!"<br>"What do you think I'm doing?" He called out, defending himself against Shan-Yu's blade with his keyblade.  
>I grabbed his hand and helped him up when he got flown by Shan-Yu's body slam. I took in a deep breath and concentrated on the magic inside me. I saw Shan-Yu coming closer, but when I kept taking in a deep breath, his movements got slower. It was like we had all the time in the world to attack him. That's when I noticed our clothes turned red. With our four keyblades combined, and our inhuman speed, we attacked Shan-Yu and defeated him within minutes. Shan-Yu grabbed his chest, and fell back motionless. I took in another deep long breath and the world seemed normal speed again. Mulan looked at us and nodded her head in happiness. Mushu jumped from her shoulder, cheering.<br>"Now that's what I call cooking some hunny bun! Mulan's the best, Mulan's the best! No – wait a minute I'm the best! Mushu's the best!"  
>I laughed and let my keyblade disappear into the air. I then felt my locket, it laid cold and motionless in my fingers. I gave Sora's hand a high five.<br>I cheered, "Yeah, we did great Sora!"  
>"That was so impressive how you called the Valor form so calmly. For a second I thought we were toast to Shan-Yu."<br>"For a second there, so did I," I blushed, rubbing the back of my head. "Maybe it's because of these new magical clothes we got."  
>I looked back down at my clothes, noticing they took back on their original navy blue color. I shrugged my shoulders and laughed with Sora.<p>

We stood in a row, looking at the palace doors, and watched as the Emperor came outside of his palace. He didn't look very happy. Shang stood in the background, making sure to protect the Emperor from any further harm. We stood up tall as the Emperor approached us. He looked at Mulan in particular. I was smiling, waiting for his approval of Mulan.  
>"I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan." Mulan stepped forward, and bowed towards him, as he continued. "You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated an Imperial soldier, you deceived your commanding officer, shamed the entire Chinese army, and dishonored your family name."<br>"We get the picture," Sora complained, shaking his head.  
>The Emperor continued, "You're a young woman and in the end," He paused.<br>Donald sighed sadly, but I held up a hand, "Hold on guys, just wait for it."  
>"You have saved us all." The Emperor himself bowed down to Mulan.<br>We all did, in fact the whole audience bowed down to Mulan in honor of her saving China. Then we heard them applaud for all of us, for having defeated Shan-Yu for good. I raised a fist in the air and cheered back at them happily. Then I gave each of my team members a hug.  
>Mulan then turned back towards the Emperor, "Your Excellency!"<br>"Captain Li?" He looked at Shang. Shang held up Shan-Yu's sword, giving it to Mulan. "Take this, so the world will know what you have done for China."  
>"Thank you!" Mulan said, giving another regal bow to the Emperor.<br>"Mulan?" Shang spoke up.  
>Mulan looked at him longingly. "Yes?"<br>"Sora, Donald, Goofy, Lara." We all responded to our names. "Thank you." Shang bowed.  
>I gave a tiny scoff.<br>The Emperor gave him a funny look. "'Thank you'? Is that all there is to say, Captain? If you wish to win the heart of Fa Mulan, China's bravest woman, you will have to be a bit more eloquent than that."  
>The Emporer chuckled as Shang blushed. Mulan also giggled as Sora tapped her shoulder.<br>"Can I get an autograph?"  
>Mulan smiled, holding onto our shoulders. "Thanks for everything, Sora. And Lara, Donald and Goofy."<br>Mushu kept talking, "Now they have to let me be a guardian again, they gotta!"  
>"But Mushu," Goofy said, "I thought you all ready were a family guardian?"<br>"What? Oh yeah, well there is some technical differences to uhm," He stalled, trying to find another lie.  
>Sora exclaimed, "You tricked us!"<br>Mushu kept trying to think of new excuses while Sora ran after him teasingly. Just then, Shan-Yu's blade lit up like fireworks.  
>"Sora!" I called, summoning my key blade.<br>He got in the spot across from me and whipped out his keyblade in unison. Together, both our keyblades lit up the night time sky, as the crown symbol glowed underneath out traditional spots. The magical force of wind sent us into the area where we watched Shan-Yu's sword project the giant keyhole into the sky. With a flip of my wrist, I sent the keyblade's light into the keyhole, locking the door to darkness, Sora unlocking the door to light. When the bright light faded away, we returned to Mulan's world, looking around happily.  
>"All right!" Donald exclaimed.<br>"Guess it's about time to be moving on." Goofy rubbed his nose.  
>"You shall all be missed." The Emperor said.<br>I bowed to him happily. "Thank you, your Excellency."  
>"Is it okay if we come back to visit?" Sora asked.<br>"Of course!" Mulan smiled.  
>Shang came up beside her. "We will look forward to your return."<br>"You two play nice." Sora winked, and they started blushing.  
>"Whoa, watch it soldier!"<br>Mulan and Mushu giggled, as Mushu waved his little dragon paw towards us.  
>"Goodbye Sora, Lara Donald and Goofy!"<p>

We watch the gummi ship land in the courtyard, and walked to it peacefully, I awaiting my next adventure in a real Disney world.


	6. First Visit: Beast's Castle

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, or Square Enix. I just enjoy writing myself into their story :)  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong><em>First Visit: Beast's Castle<em>**

Already familiar with Beast's Castle, I walked right into the dark foyer. Goofy, Donald, and Sora looked around confused.  
>"Hey what is this place?" Sora asked, coming up beside me.<br>"It's huge!" Donald said, looking around at the tall ceiling and the wide area of space between the door and the stairs leading to the wings.  
>"It's kind of gloomy, don't you think?"<br>"It is," I nodded, agreeing with Goofy.  
>"I wonder who lives here."<br>I looked at Sora. "It's Bea-," We all recoiled when a loud roar came from within the walls of the mansion. "It's Beast." I finished, relaxing.  
>We heard another roar, but it didn't shake the walls as badly.<br>"Maybe we should check up on him." Goofy suggested, and we all nodded happily.  
>Just then, a heartless slithered its way across the floor and to one of the rooms on our right.<br>"Look!" Sora shouted, and Donald waved a hand for us to follow.  
>"C'mon!"<br>We followed him into the side room that I didn't recognize. But having stepped inside, I saw a fireplace lit and realized that this room was the same room from the Disney movie in which Beast wanted Belle to join him for dinner. My heart also skipped a small beat when I thought about meeting Belle for the first time, and having her not be a impersonator from DisneyLand. Beast's rose was sat upon in a corner table, and I looked around for the heartless that was missing.  
>"Where did it go?" Donald ask, and he too spotted Beast's rose.<br>I walked up with him as Sora and Goofy searched the room. Donald went to reach for the rose surrounded by glass when the heartless appeared.  
>"Found it!" Donald exclaim, and we heard Sora and Goofy gasp as they were surrounded by other heartless.<br>I brought out my keyblade, as well as the others brought out theirs, and we backed into a group together, being fully surrounded by heartless. There had to be more than a dozen at least. I growled and took the first swing, fighting them with everything I had. Sora took on two at a time, and I had at least three surrounding me. But I realized they were going after Beast's rose. I back flipped over a heartless and slashed him sideways, his dark body disappearing. After that dozen had been taken out, five more showed up. The gang had back up into the corner with me, helping me protect the rose.  
>"C'mon already!" Sora complained.<br>"Somebody help us!"  
>Just after Donald had said that, the doors burst open, and a very angry Beast stomped into the room. I placed my keyblade back into the abyss, or wherever it went when I wasn't using it, and hid behind Sora. He patted my hand assuredly, but he didn't realize why I was cowering. Beast took out all five of the heartless with a roar and a great pounding. Beast was going to be very angry seeing us stand here. Sora, still naïve, held up a hand in a high five motion.<br>"Just in time!"  
>Beast smacked us aside, and we hit the walls roughly.<br>Donald and Goofy gasped, but were soon smacked against Beast's paw as well. We all sat on the floor, watching Beast sadly as he grabbed the rose gently and stalked off out of the room. Sora and I helped Donald and Goofy up and watched Beast walk up the stairs.  
>"Gee, do you think he maybe forgot who we are?" Goofy asked, undaunted by the abuse he'd just come to.<br>"It seemed more than that, though." I said, shaking my head at Goofy. "It was like he could nothing but rage, no matter who was in his way."  
>"With this many heartless running around," Sora began, and I looked at him, "Something must be up."<br>"Why'd he have to do that?" Donald stamped his webbed foot, rubbing the side of his head.  
>"I don't know," I whispered, and tapped a finger to my lip wondering.<p>

We headed back into the foyer when Sora spoke up again. "I wonder where Belle is."  
>I already headed up the stairs, "She's in the east wing."<br>"How do you know that?" Sora asked.  
>"And what about to the left?" Donald asked.<br>I shook my head and motioned for them to follow me. "Don't ever go in the west wing, not right now at least. I know Belle is this way because uhm," I paused. "Oh, Beast told me when we met him at Hollow Bastion."  
>"Really?" Sora asked, and the gang followed me whole heatedly.<br>I nodded, not liking this whole lying routine I had become used to. "Yeah, when I asked him about his home world and stuff."  
>We walked down the hallway when Sora turned around and whispered, "Shh." And we snuck up the door of Belle's bedroom.<br>"What am I going to do?" Belle cried, and my heart jumped. Belle had been one of my favorites of Disney's princesses.  
>Sora pointed to the door, telling us someone was inside. We all nodded, but Donald got the wrong idea and went to break the door down. He fell inside roughly.<br>"Hey, who opened the door?" He asked grumpily.  
>We looked at Belle, a tall slender woman who was wearing her normal clothes, and not the big, golden ball gown she was known for.<br>Belle smiled at us, and went towards Donald. "Oh I'm so happy you're here!" She said, picking up Donald in a big embrace. "Donald!" She looked over his shoulder and acknowledge the rest of my friends. "Sora! Goofy!"  
>They gave a friendly wave of their hands and I blushed waving as well.<br>"Hi Belle!" I said nervously. "I'm Lara."  
>"It's so wonderful to meet Beast's friends."<br>"Put me down!" Donald flustered and Belle put him down gently, giggling.  
>"Speaking of Beast," Sora began. "What's his problem anyway?"<br>Belle shook her head and sat on the edge of her bed. "He's become so angry the past few days. Almost like someone is controlling his rage and turns it on and off with a switch."  
>"Do you think it has to deal with the heartless?" I asked, and she nodded solemnly.<br>"He also put all of his friends in the dungeon." She let a tear fall.  
>"We'll go and get them, right gang?" Sora nodded proudly, and we nodded back.<br>Belle nodded and explained to us that the dungeon was on the west wing in a room off to the side before actually going up to Beast's room.  
>"That's going to be a real peach to get into," I muttered under my breath.<br>"We'll be back." Sora promised and we left Belle's room to go onto the other side of the castle.

We walked onto the west side, Donald, Sora, and Goofy admiring the scratch marks and disaster part of the brilliant castle. I kept an eye out for Beast, remembering how angry he got when Belle had came into the west wing. We noticed at the end of the hall way a door, but blocking it was a sleeping wardrobe, the very same that was usually in Belle's room giving her advice. I wondered why she was sleeping here. Donald and Sora walked around to her side and tried pushing her away from the door.  
>"Do you mind?" She shouted angrily.<br>"Sorry!" I gasped. "I forgot you were-I mean I'm really sorry."  
>We step back a ways away from her as she went back into her position of sleeping. Donald tapped his foot against the floor. I noticed he often did that when he was impatient. "So now what do we do?"<br>"How about Lara sings a lullaby while we push?" Sora suggested.  
>"Lara does what?" I exclaimed, and they shushed me. "Fine! But I warn you, I'm not a good singer."<br>"You don't have to be good, you just have to keep her asleep."  
>I shook my head but joined their little mission anyway. We sneaked back in front of her again, Sora and Donald at her side ready to push. They waited for me to start, which I did clumsily.<br>"Rock-a-bye wardrobe on the," I paused quickly, "Smoothed floor?" Donald and Sora started pushing, and with luck it was starting to work, she hadn't woken yet. "When the floors rock, it's when the beast roars."  
>Suddenly the dresser startled awake and screamed, "No more roaring from the master!"<br>"Or you could just scare her with nightmares." Sora teased and I raised my fists playfully.  
>"Hey, I told you I couldn't sing!"<br>She bristled, or at least I think she did. "And I was just starting to get comfortable. May I help you?"  
>"Belle needs us to go into the dungeon." I said, and she gasped.<br>"Goodness you're here to help my friends? Well why didn't you say so?" Sora looked confused. "Oh I'm sorry I startled you. I used to be human too you know. Before the enchantress cast her spell." She sighed. "I was turned into a wardrobe while the prince was turned into a beast."  
>"The prince is the Beast?" Donald exclaimed.<br>"The Beast is a prince?" Goofy exclaimed as well.  
>"Oh, sorry you guys!" I said. "I didn't remember."<br>The dresser hung her head. "That's right. Though he was far from princely at the time."  
>"What's this about a spell?" Sora asked.<br>The dresser looked at us meaningfully. "It was a cold winter's night." And all the gang but me leaned in to her story. She stood up proudly. "And that's enough for now. You can hear the rest when you've rescued the others. It'll give you something to look forward to."  
>They sighed disappointingly but I spoke up. "The others are right through this door, right?"<br>"Right! Hurry now. The dungeon is damp and chilly. Certainly no place for a clock."  
>"A clock?" Goofy questioned, but I already opened the door.<br>"C'mon guys, let's go."  
>We went through the door and stepped into a dim lit room, another door staring back at us. And it was literally staring, because it looked like two eyes were looking right at you. The shapes of the design on the door were nothing I had seen in <span>Beauty <span>and the Beast. There was a key hole in the middle of the door, and I stepped up to it courageously.  
>"Lemme give it a try!" I said, bringing out my key blade.<br>I flipped it around me hand and pointed it at the key hole. The door flashed with a bright purple light and I fell to the ground. The two eyes I had noticed were actually my mistaking for a heartless head, and the long droops from the heads became arms. And they were very much alive now.  
>"Oops! Wrong button!" I exclaimed, getting up holding my keyblade.<br>They flailed their arms roughly, trying to grab me, but missed, and instead gave each other a fist bump. Then the battle was on. Little heartless that looked like bats kept getting in the way of my eyesight, and I couldn't focus on attacking the heartless on the door. It seemed like millions of other heartless forms came to bug us, and wouldn't stop meddling until we destroyed the main heartless. When I fought off at least a dozen heartless, Sora threw me a potion, taking one for himself and sliced through the heartless with a rough attack. The heartless around Donald, Goofy, and me disappeared and the heartless on the door became stone and suddenly disappeared into a black smoke; the door left completely normal. When we stepped into the small storage room, Sora shook his head.  
>"There's nobody here."<br>But I saw Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts and her son Chip.  
>"You mean there's nobody to rescue?" Donald asked, looking around.<br>Before I could speak up, Lumiere did for me. "Did someone say rescue?"  
>"Keep quiet! It might be THEM!" Cogsworth said harshly.<br>"They look like nice boys to me." Mrs. Potts said.  
>"We are nice." Goofy offered. "We're your friends."<br>"Yeah," Sora agreed, looking around for people. "Belle sent us to find you."  
>"And I'm not a boy," I added.<br>Cogsworth, who was a walking, talking clock, got down from the top of his box. His friends, Lumiere and walking, talking candelabra, and Mrs. Potts and her son, who were a teapot and cup followed in suit. My gang wowed at their existence, but I smiled and waved a hand gently.  
>"I'm Sora." Sora began. He pointed to each of us. "Donald. Goofy. Lara."<br>Before he could continue though, Donald reached out and picked up Cogsworth, toying with his clock parts.  
>"Don't touch me! I am self-winding sir!" But Donald shook him roughly.<br>"I'm glad you're okay," Sora said, looking at Lumiere.  
>"It is we who are overjoyed to see you!"<br>"Did someone put a spell on you guys, too?" Goofy asked.  
>I nodded. "It's part of their curse, Goofy." Donald was still playing with Cogsworth.<br>Cogsworth pulled away and nodded. "Yes, that's right. You've heard! It was the enchantress."  
>"It seems so long ago." Lumiere sighed unhappily.<br>"It was a cold winter's night." Mrs. Potts started. "An old beggar woman came to the castle and asked for shelter."  
>"But the master of this castle, that is of course the Prince," He paused and slapped Donald's hand. "Stop that! Put me down this instance!" Donald placed him upon a chair gently and came back over to the group. "Thank you!" He cleared his throat. "Where was I? Ah yes. The master turned the woman away. All because of her meager appearance."<br>"That's awful." Said Goofy and I nodded.  
>"He was a spoiled and how shall I say, cruel prince." Lumiere spoke up and Cogsworth argued with him.<br>"The old woman warned him not to be fooled by appearances alone. But still he wouldn't take her in." Mrs. Potts continued. "Then the old woman's appearance melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. She turned the prince into a beast, an appearance she thought fitting for his cold heart."  
>"And to further punish him, she enchanted everyone else too." I finished, and they nodded.<br>"Wow, that's quite a story." Sora said, placing hands behind his head.  
>"Is there anything we can do to help?" Goofy asked.<br>"Let's get the enchantress!" Donald exclaimed and I laughed politely.  
>"Donald! It's not the enchantress that needs to change. It's Beast. He needs to realize that until he can love and be loved, not matter what the person looks like, he will remain, well, a beast."<br>"We know what needs to be done," Lumiere said, "But with the master out of sorts." He let his sentence hang.  
>"He sure is acting weird." Sora agreed.<br>"It's almost as if he's forgotten how to trust others." Mrs. Potts said.  
>"You don't suppose he's been turned into a heartless, do you?" Cogsworth asked, fearfully.<br>My gang and I jumped. "Heartless!"  
>"If heartless have something to do with this, then it's a good idea we are here." Sora exclaimed.<br>"Let's go find the Beast." Donald offered and I nodded.  
>Lumiere jumped from his chair and motioned for us to follow. "Follow me. I know a shortcut!"<p>

When we entered the last room from before, Cogsworth and Lumiere climbed up some rummage on the side of the room. I now realized there was a balcony that had yet another door, this time blocked by the iron guards of the castle. Cogsworth cleared his throat and told them to stand aside, we were all friends here. The guards moved silently and Cogsworth stood aside to allow everyone else to enter the doorway. The passageway to Beast's room was a little unorthodox, as we had to sort out some booby traps the heartless had left around. But with patience we got all of the lights lit brightly and pressed the brick on the far wall to reveal yet another doorway.  
>"How many doorways do you guys have in this castle?" I commented, and Cogsworth just laughed.<br>"Well, mes amis, I must check on the castle." Lumiere shook our hands. "I fear my presence has been absent for far too long."  
>"I'd best be off too dears." Mrs. Potts bowed her head at us, and we did in return. "It's time for Chip's bed time."<br>"But I'm not tired!" Chip yawned and I giggled.  
>"Good night, Chip." I waved gently.<br>"Watch out for any heartless!" Sora called after them.  
>Cogsworth then turned to us. "The master's room is at the very end of the west wing. I will go on ahead and wait for you there."<br>We nodded and allowed him to continue on, as we went searching for chests we just happen to past by. Thankfully we found some potions to refill our stocks.  
>"Now let's go help Beast." Sora said, and we followed loyally.<p>

Upon entering we heard Beast roar, and my heart pendant glowed fiercely.  
>"Organization member!" I pointed, and so there a member was, standing tall and proud.<br>"See? She has accomplices." The member said, and put a force field up behind Beast's back, guarding him from his rose. Then he disappeared.  
>Cogsworth and my gang stepped up to Beast, I walked carefully, feeling his angry aura.<br>"Hey Prince." Sora said, calmly.  
>Beast shook his head and gave a wall shaking roar.<br>"Master!" Cogsworth pleaded.  
>But it was too late. The Organization member had already fed Beast with anger, and we could see his body glowing with a heartless sort of darkness.<br>"Looks like our talk is going to be violent." I said, summoning my key blade. Sora, Donald and Goofy did the same with their weapons.  
>And it was. I got smacked from Beast's mighty paw at least three times. But Sora and Cogsworth worked together and slowed Beast's attacks and made him see we were his friends, not his enemies.<br>"Please master! Compose yourself." Cogsworth pleaded again, and Beast finally stopped fighting altogether.  
>"Cogsworth?" Beast groaned. "What happened?"<br>Cogsworth stuttered, looking shy. "Well you see master, you, well, how shall I say, uhm,"  
>"Well you put everyone down there in that dungeon!"<br>"I did what?"  
>"Donald!" I exclaimed. "It's not like that Beast,"<br>He looked away sadly. I elbowed Sora roughly, pointing to Beast's sadness.  
>"Uh, who was that guy you were talking to?" Sora asked and I nodded, thanking him silently. "The one in black?"<br>Beast gasped. "Xaldin! That's his name." Beast growled lowly. "He came from the darkness. He, he used my anger to control me. He took all of my emotions; my sadness, my sorrow, my pain. He turned it all into rage." Beast looked at his paws, "There was nothing I could do. I could no longer see the truth."  
>"Well I'll be! That must be why you threw all of your friends into that there dungeon. You wanted to make sure that you didn't hurt them, right?" Goofy pointed out.<br>"Was that it? To protect them?"  
>I nodded as Goofy continued. "Sure. We know you're still good inside."<br>"He's right master! We've all seen how kin you can be." Cogsworth pointed out. "After all, Belle can see the goodness in your heart, but I'm afraid you've yet to."  
>"Belle!" Beast realized, and got sad again. "I mistreated her. I've mistreated her and been so selfish."<br>"She didn't say anything about that," Sora offered.  
>"She'd never tell anyone of my cruelty, she's too good."<br>"You see, he judges himself far too harshly," Cogsworth whispered to us.  
>I nodded. "I know exactly how he feels."<br>"Why don't you just go talk to her?" Sora asked.  
>"But-,"<br>I smiled and took his paw friendly. "No excuses! C'mon, we'll all go with you."  
>And with Beast's reluctant shuffling, we made our way out of the room.<p> 


	7. Beast's Castle: Part 2

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Sadly.**

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><p>When we got to Belle's room however, the only person n the room was the talking wardrobe from before.<br>"Master!" The wardrobe exclaimed.  
>"Everybody's safe now." Donald reassured, and the wardrobe sighed relived.<br>"Where is Belle?" Beast asked calmly.  
>"She left in a hurry! Saying something about going after a man in black."<br>"SHE WHAT?" Beast roared, and we all trembled.  
>"Beast! Don't get angry!" I tried, but he shook his head.<br>"Why doesn't she ever do as she is told!"  
>"Temper, temper!" The wardrobe replied haughtily. "Her spirit is what makes Belle special."<br>"Not helping," I warningly sang to the wardrobe.  
>"We'd better go find her!" Sora offered, and Beast kept growling.<p>

We exited her room and entered the main foyer, just to her Belle scream.  
>"I'm warning you! You'll be sorry!"<br>"Belle! Where are you?" Beast shouted.  
>"Beast! Help, I'm in the ballroom!"<br>And we ran towards the big double door entrance. As we entered, we saw Belle running towards the balcony doors.  
>"Belle!"<br>"I'm alright!" She assured us, and closed the doors.  
>That's when the giant ball like heartless sprang down from the ceiling menacingly. It jangled, what with all the chains wrapped around its spherical head. It floated towards the grand chandelier and plummeted straight to the floor. With a loud thud, it hit the floor without hirting itself, but managed to make the room start growing a smoky, black, darkness. Everything surrounding us was black and purple, two colors I grew to coincide with the heartless themselves. All, except Beast, made our weapons appear and started to go after the little black ball. But it started to fade away, and suddenly it was apart of the wall itself! With a force of power, light sprang from the separation of the large windows, and as luck would have it, Donald and I got hit with the light. The heartless surged forward, releasing the walls, and went straight to the chandelier. It made the light drop, but only just, and tried using it as a spinning ball of doom. Sora caught on and used a power called Release with his keyblade. The Heartless tumbled out of the chandelier confused, which gave us the advantage to attack it head on. The ball like heartless came to again, and attached itself to a pillar holding the ballroom together. All of the pillars suddenly sprang to life and tried to scratch at all of us in one clump. I used my Release power and it came out, only once again attached itself to the wall. This time I was prepared.<br>"Beast!" I called out, and we stood together, just as the Heartless came at the chandelier.  
>"Get out!" Beast roared, and together we made an inseparable, magical bond.<br>I suddenly felt lighter, and more quicker, like I had in Mulan's world when fighting Shan-Yu. Except I attacked with the speed of my limits. With Beasts mighty claws going as fast as both of my keyblades, the heartless stopped moving and turned into a big purple, black ball of smoke.  
>"Alright!" I said, pulling my fist back in victory.<br>My victory was too early. When the ball shattered, an even bigger, beastlike heartless appeared. And just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared, and started attacking without our knowledge of where to attack back.  
>"Argh! I hate heartless!" I raged, stepping out of the form I had with Beast.<br>"I'll handle it!" Sora called, and with his power combined with Goofy's they became Valor form and dominated the heartless beast form.  
>"Is it finally down?" I asked, not doubting that a third heartless form would appear.<br>But the heartless shattered and the ballroom returned to normal.  
>"We did it!" Sora cheered, and the rest of us did a victory dance. But my pendant glowed.<br>"So you think." Called out the organization member, whom I guessing was Xaldin.  
>"Xaldin!" Beast roared, and we went after him, but he disappeared within a vortex of darkness. Beast shook his head. "What does he want here?"<br>"He must be with Organization thirteen." Beast turned to Sora. "Ever heard of the Nobodies." Beast shook his head. "When a strong hearted person turns into a Heartless, a Nobody's created too. See, the organization have control of all the Nobodies."  
>"That's right," Goofy pointed, "They were going to turn you into a Heartless. That way they could get that Nobody of yours and have control over it."<br>Sora agreed, and that's when Belle stepped into the ballroom.  
>"You're all right!"<br>"Belle!" Beast remembered, and sprinted to her.  
>We came up behind Beast as they struggled to let their feelings be known.<br>"Belle, I'm so sorry. I wasn't myself." He looked at her sincerely. "I hope I haven't done anything to hurt you." They smiled at each other, and my heart swelled.  
>"I know you weren't yourself, and you don't have to apologize." Belle then stood a little more proudly. "But I had hoped that you might of changed a little bit. I wish you could start trusting me." She crossed her arms.<br>Lumiere spoke up, that's when I had noticed that the rest of Beast's friends had entered the room. "I'm afraid time is running short."  
>"What do you mean?" Sora asked.<br>"Remember the rose?" I asked, and Sora nodded. "And remember what I said to Donald? Beast has to learn to love and accept others, as they learn to love and accept him no matter what he or the other person looks like." I paused. "I don't remember the rose's significance."  
>"It's before the last petal falls." Cogsworth stated, and I nodded.<br>"Then the spell will be broken!" Lumiere cheered and we all looked back at Beast and Belle.  
>"You think he's going to make it?" Sora smiled, placing his hands on his hips.<br>"We think so." Mrs. Potts nodded.  
>"I think you're right." Goofy chuckled.<br>"I hope you're right." Sora implied.  
>I shook my head, already knowing how <span>Beauty <span>and the Beast ended. Then both mine and Sora's keyblades showed up without our summoning. Sora and I looked around for the item that was glowing, but couldn't see it. I instead took my place in front of Sora and held my keyblade which suddenly felt heavy. The ends of our keyblades glowed, and with a wave of magic the crown spot was under our feet. Everyone else disappeared, and as usually the projection of a keyhole appeared in the sky. I flipped my keyblade lightly, its weight lighter again and pointed. The sky glowed brightly, and when it was gone, we were back in the ballroom amongst our friends.  
>"What happened?" Beast questioned.<br>"The gate is opened!" Donald cheered.  
>"And locked," I added with a wink.<br>"Do you have to go?" Belle asked, and I smiled at her shyly.  
>"Yes, but we'll be back later." I assured her.<br>"No more arguing okay?" Goofy teased.  
>Belle and Beast looked at each other, and Beast blushed brightly.<br>"You're welcome back anytime!" Cogsworth bowed and I nodded at each of them.  
>"If any of you hear anything from Riku or the King," Sora started. "The heartless, or the organization- anything at all, just let us know." They nodded.<br>We all said a round of goodbyes and started to head out of the castle and towards the gummi ship.

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><p><strong>Read and Review if you would like ^_^<strong>


	8. Hollow BastionFirst Visit:100 AcreWoods

**Kingdom Hearts is (c) of Disney. I just enjoy being in their world :3**

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><p><strong><em>Second Visit: Hollow<em>_ Bastion_**

When we got into the gummi ship, I noticed on the map that Mulan's world and Beast's world connected to create a passageway to a new world, one that looked familiar to me. But when Sora when to navigate, the gummi ship steered itself.  
>"Is the gummi ship moving all on its own?" Goofy asked.<br>Sora nodded. I looked on the map, seeing our little green dot move towards Hollow Bastion. "It looks like we're headed to Hollow Bastion." I wonder what's going on there, I thought as I placed a finger to my lip.

"I wonder what's up." Sora asked, as we entered the center of Hollow Bastion.  
>We kept walking towards Merlin's house, knowing that's where the group was, when my heart pendant got warm.<br>"Heartless!" I exclaimed, and sure enough three heartless exited from Merlin's house.  
>But just as we ran to greet them, they disappeared into their dark abyss. I growled, annoyed that they had gotten away.<br>"C'mon, we gotta make sure everyone's okay." Sora said, and we followed him into Merlin's house.  
>Merlin was lying on the floor, books around him trampled on and tumbled into every corner. He groaned as he got up.<br>"Well now, took your time did you?" He chuckled weakly.  
>"Was it you who summoned us, Merlin?" Goofy asked, and Merlin nodded.<br>"Yes, yes. But it seems I used to much power in doing so and those infernal heartless," Merlin groaned.  
>"So what's up?" I asked, crossing my arms.<br>"Well I happened to stumble across this in the Zero District." He held out his hand and out of magical smoke a book popped into his hand. He handed it to Donald, and I looked over his shoulder.  
>"Winnie the Pooh!" I exclaimed. "Oh I loved him as a child," I paused and shook my head. "Ah just kidding."<br>Merlin looked back at Sora after giving me a funny look. "I know you're a good friend of Winnie the Pooh, Sora– that's why I summoned you. And when I did, I was attacked by the heartless." He added quickly, "Of course I fought back with some rather powerful magic, but I began to fear the book would be damaged so I ah," He stumbled on his words and shook his head. "Now wait just a moment, Leon and the others need to hear this as well. I'd better go find them." He looked at us happily. "Be back in a jiffy!" And just like that he was gone in a smoke of magic.  
>"I wonder if he's always been like that." I asked out loud. I don't really remember much of <span>Sword <span>in the Stone.  
>"I wonder how Pooh's doing." Sora asked, and I came around to the group.<br>"Wanna find out?" Donald ask.  
>"Yeah!" Sora replied and Donald opened the book.<br>"Wait, how many are allowed in Pooh's world?" I asked, grabbing Sora's arm.  
>But my question was answered as we were both sucked into the world of a story book.<p>

**_First__ Visit:__ 100__ Acre __Woods_**  
>I could hear the thud of our feet landing onto the storybook.<br>"This is weird!" I said, my voice echoing. "Echo!" My voice rang loud with an 'Echo!' back. I giggled.  
>Three trees popped up from the left side of the book and Sora pointed. "That must be where we are supposed to go." When we got closer, I realized that the tree in the middle was Pooh's own home.<br>"I wonder if he's home," Sora asked and I shrugged my shoulders.  
>"Only one way to find out." And he nodded in agreement.<br>We entered through the pop out trees and found ourselves walking amongst an actual forest pathway. When we walked down it further, we saw Pooh's home and Pooh Bear himself sitting on tree log, thinking.  
>"Oh!" Pooh gasped, noticing Sora.<br>"Hiya Pooh Bear. Finding any good honey lately?"  
>I smiled giving a small wave shyly. Winnie the Pooh! A classic Disney character in the flesh right in front of me! I couldn't believe my insane luck to have been chosen to be in Disney's world! "Hi, Pooh! I'm Lara."<br>He held out a paw. "Nice to meet ya, Lara." And I shook it happily.  
>"What are you doing?" Sora asked and Pooh Bear looked at him.<br>"I was just about to do my stoutness exercises." He looked at both of us, rocking back and forth upon the log. "Would you like to join me?"  
>"Yeah!" I shouted.<br>Sora laughed and gave me a high five. "I'm game!"  
>Pooh Bear went to jump off the log when he stopped. And not just stopped from jumping, he stopped from landing on the ground! "Sora, what's going on?" I asked, furrowing my brow.<br>"I don't know."  
>Sora went to touch Pooh Bear when a force field shot us out of the story book roughly. We landed on the floor of Merlin's house, I landed on top of Sora.<br>"Oh, I'm sorry!" I said, looking at the book. It closed gently.  
>Sora shook his head, patting my arm softly. "No worries, are you okay?"<br>I went to reply when we heard Donald's voice. "Sora! Hurry up!"  
>We both stood up and took off running out the door, summoning our key blades. We found Donald and Goofy protecting Merlin's house from four heartless, my pendant warming up.<br>"Did you bring the book, Sora?" Goofy asked, and I slapped my forehead.  
>"Shoot! The book!"<br>Sora looked back, just in time to see three heartless scurrying from the door way, one of them holding Pooh's book.  
>"Pooh Bear!" I cried out and dashed after them.<br>It didn't take us long to defeat all seven heartless. In fact with my anger, it took us under two minutes. I saw the book lying on the ground, now having severe claw marks slashed against the cover.  
>Sora picked it up and asked, "Think it's okay?"<br>"Of course it's not okay!" I exclaimed, pointing to the marks. "Look! They tore it apart! Those fiends!"  
>"Maybe you better go back and make sure Pooh's all right!" Goofy offered, but I shook my head.<br>"That's what go us into this mess, going into the book!"  
>"Then don't come with me this time!" Sora shouted back, and I glared.<br>"Fine! I won't." And I turned my back on him.  
>"What about Merlin?" Donald asked, and after an awkward silence of waiting for Sora to answer, Goofy did instead.<br>"Well I guess we could explain,"  
>"Fine." Sora said shortly, and I heard him hand over the book to someone.<br>After a few seconds, I could no longer feel Sora's presence and turned back around, letting a tear fall down my cheek.  
>"Are you all right?" Donald asked, holding my hand.<br>I wiped my tear and smiled weakly. "Yeah. I'm okay. Just emotional right now. It's hard to fight with friends."  
>Donald and Goofy nodded, and we headed back into Merlin's house to wait. Within a couple of minutes, Merlin appeared and asked us to take a seat.<br>"So what happened?" Merlin asked, and I looked at the rest of the gang to answer, I didn't feel in the mood to be the know-it-all.  
>"Well, Sora and Lara went inside the book to see Winnie the Pooh." Goofy started, and Merlin looked at me with a glance and a smile.<br>I half smiled, but looked off to the side in a day dream. I don't know what made me so angry with Sora, and it was awkward only because I've never really shown my temper around the Disney characters. I sighed, accidently tuning out Goofy and Merlin. The more I stayed in this world, the more I became the real me. When I had first discovered I was inside the video game, I told myself I had to be a completely different person. But the more involved I got into all of their world, the more I felt like I was going to be here for the rest of my life and to stop faking who I really was. I wasn't the know-it-all, calm, kick-ass girl in the real world as I was here. In the real world I was emotional, stressed with school and boys and homework, wondering if I'd have a best friend the next day or not. I suddenly wondered, with extreme happiness, that maybe I was something more in this world. That maybe I could be the real Lara and the powerful one I had discovered here in Kingdom Hearts.  
>Suddenly, the booked opened up next to me, and I stood aside to let Sora have room when coming out. He noticed me first and went to smile, but then quickly directed his attention to Merlin.<br>"Couldn't be bothered to wait up for an old wizard, eh?" Merlin teased, and Sora laughed nervously.  
>"Sorry about that," He paused, rubbing the back of his head.<br>"How are things in there?"  
>I looked back at Sora, not angrily as I had been before, but I was still pretty mad.<br>Sora shook his head. "Pooh seems to have forgotten all about me. And not just me, all of his other friends too."  
>We all jumped, except for Merlin, who nodded his head sadly. "Yes, I was afraid of that." Merlin walked up to the book, it opened to reveal that only Winnie the Pooh's tree house remained. "I suspect it has something to do with those pages the heartless stole." He tuned back to us. "You'll have to collect those torn pages and repair the book to put things right." The book closed again. "This book is one of the world's most cherished elements. I'd been meaning to tell Leon about it, but perhaps we should keep it between us for now."<br>"I wouldn't want to worry Leon about anything more, he's got enough on his hands." I said and Merlin nodded.  
>"Now the book isn't all that's cherished. This is for you, Sora."<br>He handed Sora a little charm. Sora looked at it thoughtfully. "What is it?"  
>"Simply concentrate on it with all your heart, and you need only say the word to summon an ally who will help in times of need."<br>"Like Simba and Mushu did the last time we were here?" Goofy asked and Merlin nodded.  
>"Precisely. Now go forth, with your friends by your side."<br>As soon as Merlin said that, Sora and I looked at each. I looked away and blushed brightly.  
>"Thanks Merlin. We'll be back for Pooh once we've found all his pages." Sora said, looking at Merlin with determination.<br>We headed back out towards the gummi ship, silent in our thoughts.

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><p><strong>This wasn't a very long chapter, but I will be updating very soon again, and with another long chapter :) Thanks for being patient!<strong>


	9. First Visit: Olympus Coliseum

**Disney has all rights to their franchise. I just wish I was a part of their team :)**

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><p><strong><em>First Visit: Olympus Coliseum<em>**

Upon entering, I looked around at my surroundings and began to worry. This place, it was dark and made my shoulders feel heavier. It felt like death around here.  
>"Are you sure this is the coliseum?" Goofy asked, and that's when I realized where we were.<br>"It's that way!" Donald pointed, and started walking towards a set of stairs.  
>The stairs lead up towards two double entrance doors of gold. Yup, this was definitely not where we wanted to be.<br>"I guess we were a little off," Sora said, and blushed when he looked at me.  
>"You could say that again," I mumbled softly next to him.<br>He went to turn towards me, but we heard a loud ear pitching scream. From behind us, Meg was being chased by heartless.  
>"Meg!" I yelled, running towards her.<br>She looked up at me, confused, and then tripped suddenly. The heartless went to gang up on her, but just the sight of us sent them running away. A flag of warning went off in my head. Sora held out his hand to help her up, but she shook her head rudely.  
>"Thanks, but I'm fine."<br>"Are you sure you're okay, Meg?" He asked, and she gave him a look.  
>"And you're supposed to be?"<br>"I'm Sora. This is Donald, Goofy, and Lara." He pointed to each of us, and I gave the peace sign. "We came to check up on Hercules."  
>She looked like she was judging all four of us. "You know Wonderboy?"<br>"Yeah, 'cause we're heroes too!" Donald stated proudly, and Goofy whispered. "You mean junior heroes, Donald." Donald gave him a disapproving look.  
>Meg giggled softly. "Looks like we have a friend in common. He must of told you my name."<br>Sora placed an arm around me, smiling. "Nope. Our friend Lara here is what we like to call a psychic."  
>I giggled nervously. "Magicians never reveal their secrets."<br>"So how's Herc?" Sora asked, removing his arm from my shoulders, and took my hand instead.  
>I felt relived that we were getting back on good terms, and applied my attention to Meg.<br>"He's fighting it out at the coliseum every day." She shook her head. "He says, 'A hero's work is never done' and all that. He's ready to drop, but he keeps on fighting. Even Wonderboy has his limits, you know." She sighed looking at all of us. "These opponents he's fighting are bad news- special deliveries from Hades himself." A second warning flag went off in my head.  
>"Hades?" Donald exclaimed, and Meg nodded.<br>"Lord of the Underworld. I was on my way to see him."  
>"Why?" I snapped, and she looked at me with wide eyes.<br>"To ask him to give Wonderboy a breather. If anything happened to him," She paused.  
>"It sounds like you're more than just friends," Goofy smiled and Meg stuttered and blushed.<br>"Look it's a daring quest, and I just want to see my _friend_ safe." She directed her tone on the word 'friend' loudly.  
>"We'll go talk to Hades." Sora offered, and I looked at him fearfully. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to you while you were on your way there."<br>"You'd do that for me? Well it does look like you guys know what you're doing." She smiled at each of us. "I guess I'll take you up on that offer. But let's keep this whole chat-with-Hades thing our little secret, okay?"  
>The third warning flag went up, and that's when I knew to stop trusting Meg, no matter if I knew she would become truthful in the end. My gang replied without me, as I stood silently, deciphering our next steps.<p>

We entered through tall double doors, they opened with a bizarre looking crack between them; the design of a zig-zag like someone had cut the stone. The doors slammed shut behind us and I gulped.  
>"What's wrong?" Sora asked and I shook my head.<br>"Nothing. Much." I whispered and followed him silently. We went down a tunnel, after of course fighting some nomad heartless running about wildly. My heart pendant glowed brightly among the darkness, and we looked around for an organization member. I saw him running away from us, probably not realizing we were on his tail.  
>"The Organization!" Donald cried, and we went running towards him.<br>I noticed with fear that some of the ceiling kept falling whenever we were just underneath it. That made me worry even more, as I tried concentrating on fighting heartless and watching for rocks. We reached another tunnel, and I gasped as the member was coming straight at us. Sora raised his key blade but the member ran past us.  
>"Run! Run away!" And he dived into a portal.<br>We stood silently, looking at each other in confusion.  
>"Okay?" Sora shook his head.<br>After gathering all the chests, Sora found a map of the Underworld in one, we headed through a giant crack in the wall with green smoke coming out of it.  
>"I have a feeling we're getting closer and closer to Hades himself." I said out loud, wondering if the others felt heavy like me.<br>Upon entering, the whole room was glowing green, and I noticed that Donald and Goofy did feel the same, as they looked worried and fearful. Donald made a whimpering noise and Goofy nodded his head.  
>"I'm scared too Donald."<br>I looked up to where Sora was looking, noticing now that we were three platforms away from Hades skull like home.  
>"Hades come out!" Sora called and I took his hand nervously.<br>He shook me off, not in anger but was too busy concentrating on getting to Hades, instead of his limits. We headed up the slopes of the platforms, fighting a good amount of heartless on our way up. The last platform had a tunnel with big wide stone doors leading up towards the giant skull, and my head felt heavier. We entered the skull and noticed that he was fighting with another person, pushing away a giant sword. I knew Hades with certainty, but the other guy wasn't from Hercules.  
>"You again?" Hades noticed us come in and raged, but was caught off guard as the other man slashed at him with strong fierceness.<br>The other man got in at least two slashes of his sword, but it wasn't going to be easy fighting Hades, Lord of the Dead. Hades pushed him aside like a rag doll and started flaming with red fire. Sora stepped in between them and looked back at the man.  
>"Get up!" He yelled, and summoned his keyblade.<br>Leaving no choice for me, I too summoned my key blade and stood beside Sora, trying to summon all the courage I had. And the battle began. Hades came at us with everything he had, and it was beating me to the bone. My headache wouldn't go away, and I kept feeling the key blade slip from my hands. I almost thought I had dropped it when Sora held my hand fiercely.  
>"Don't give up!"<br>"I'm not trying to! I just can't focus straight."  
>I knew it wasn't an extremely good choice, but it was the only thing I could think of. Limit Break. I fought off a heartless to get my limit break engaged and then felt my world going in fast motion. I was swinging my key blade wildly at Hades, trying to attack him as best I could. But once the break was over, I fell to the ground whimpering.<br>"Something's wrong." Donald said, and my group came to guard me while I was down.  
>Sora nodded, "I feel kinda funny."<br>Hades chuckled darkly. "That's right! See, that's the thing. In the Underworld, Heroes are Zeroes. Comes with the territory."  
>Hades summoned two white hot spheres of fire, and aimed them to torch us in his territory. I closed my eyes, waiting for my death, when the man from before hit the fire away with his giant sword.<br>"Go! Now!" He yelled.  
>He didn't need to tell me twice. Donald and Goofy ran out of the entrance to the main platform from before. I took Sora's hand strongly.<br>"Sora, let's go! The nice man saved our lives!"  
>"But I need to talk to Hades!" He shouted.<br>Hades through up a hand to his ear sarcastically. "What was that?" Then started to summon more fire from his hands.  
>Sora went to go after him, but I pulled on his hand and the man pushed Sora back.<br>"We can't fight him here. We have to go, now!"  
>I think the giant fireball headed towards the backs of our feet is what persuaded Sora to get moving.<p>

I didn't know Sora and Goofy had much strength left, but they got the two stone doors to close right behind our group. I panted heavily, holding my chest. My heart locket was warm against me, but I didn't know if that was a warning or if I was just that hot from running and fighting.  
>"Is he gone?" Donald asked, and I shook my head.<br>"Don't count on it." The man said, gripping his sword tightly.  
>Sora went to question him, but I shrieked. There beside him Hades stood, looking cruel.<br>"Leaving so soon?" He smiled, and we ran as fast as we could.  
>It wasn't fast enough, as Hades kept putting up shields of magic, forcing us to fight him. I was running out of stamina to fight, but we kept going, the man fighting with us helped a great deal. I still couldn't remember who he was, if I had ever seen him. At last we got to the inner chamber and ran into it, all of us breathing pretty heavily. All of us sat down, all except for the giant man, which Sora acknowledge.<br>"You're really good. Are you some kind of hero?"  
>He shook his head, and I didn't wonder why. He was the only one who wasn't out of breath from being within Hades Underworld.<br>"No, I'm no hero. I'm just an," He paused sighing. "Auron."  
>We all looked at each other. I giggled slightly, "You're just an oran?"<br>"No. My name."  
>"Oh," I said. "Be more specific next time."<br>"I'm Sora."  
>Donald jumped on top of his shoulders. "Donald!"<br>Goofy placed his hand on Donald's back, causing more grief for Sora. "Goofy!"  
>Their weight gave way, and they landed on the floor in a pile. I looked at Auron fully, now noticing that Auron had been fighting with one arm tucked into his Japanese kimono. I held up two fingers in greeting. "I'm Lara."<br>"It seems we were fated to meet. Maybe you need a guardian."  
>I nodded, smiling, "Maybe we do."<br>"Guardian?" Sora questioned, lifting himself off the ground. "Thanks, but no thanks."  
>"Sora." I snapped, but he walked onward from the Cave of the Dead.<br>I shook my head and shrugged at Auron. Auron just chuckled. I thought he would just stay away from us, especially since Sora declined his offer, but he traveled through the passageway, helping us fight the heartless that spawned again back within the tunnels. We found our way back to the jagged giant doors from where we entered. They were closed again. Donald tapped them with his feathery hands.  
>"It's closed!"<br>All the boys except Auron tried pushing the doors opened. They wouldn't budge.  
>I groaned. "Argh! What are we going to do?"<br>Donald stepped back, then pointed to the to of the ceiling. There was a giant key hole glowing brightly blue. Only Sora's key blade was summoned.  
>"Will that open it?" Auron doubted and I nodded.<br>"When one door closes,"  
>"Another one opens," Sora smiled and raised his key blade.<br>But a growl came from behind us, and I knew the large dog growl anywhere from the Underworld.  
>"Cerberus!" I shouted, and pointed.<br>Sue enough, the body of the large, black dog jumped from the caverns in the ceiling and its thee large heads growled and snapped in unison.  
>"Hurry!" Auron shouted, and went after decoying Cerebus.<br>"Right!" Sora replied, and held his key blade back up. It glowed brightly, and a beam of light sprang towards the keyhole, making the room glow brightly white and unlocked the giant lock. Donald and Goofy could push open the door with ease now, and ran through the door way, ushering us further into the main chamber. But as Sora looked back, he noticed Auron struggling and I nodded to him in unison.  
>"Sora! Lara!" they yelled after us.<br>But it was too late. A giant magical shield blocked us from exiting with our friends, and we all turned to face Cerebus. And the battle didn't cost us too much of our stamina. I actually felt a little more stronger, now that my headache was gone. Sora and Auron used a special move that tapped into Auron's limit break. I wondered how Auron could keep on fighting without any sort of consequence. Almost like he was already…  
>I gasped. "Dead."<br>Auron was already dead, why else could he fight off Hades equally? And why else would he be down there in Hades's Underworld? I wondered with slight confusion if we could trust him, and helped to keep Cerebus down. The three headed dog was weak and stayed down as we ran through the double doors Donald and Goofy held open slightly for us. Before the doors officially shut, we all turned around and gave a taunting face.  
>"Whew!" Sora sighed, relieved.<br>"What happened to Auron?" Donald asked, and I gasped looking around.  
>"Oh no, we didn't leave him in there did we?"<br>Sora shook his head. "He can take care of himself."  
>"I understand that but, he saved us."<br>Sora patted my shoulder. "Let's go find Meg, then we can try again with Auron by our side."  
>I nodded slightly, toying with my pendant.<p>

We ran up the golden stair way towards the big Olympian doors that led to where Hercules would be found, no doubt. Upon entering, I looked around in awe. This was amazing! And I never thought I'd actually see Olympus. It was like being in a video game heaven.  
>"Gawrsh, this sure does bring back memories." Goofy said, and I nodded, lacing my fingers together.<br>"It sure does!" They looked at me again with a smirk and I blushed. "No, I haven't been here. Let's just say that I've read about this place a lot and couldn't wait to see it for the first time."  
>"Does your world have anything like this?" Sora asked, and I shook my head.<br>"I think the only thing that comes close to this place is probably Las Vegas, a place where the lights are on all the time and people are awake day and night."  
>My gang smiled at me, then we headed towards the giant golden double doors that led to the coliseum. But the doors opened for us and out stepped Hercules himself. I couldn't believe it. Hercules lived up to his demi-god appearance! He was so built, and tall, and had a great looking face. But beyond all the good looks, he looked weak and worn out. At least I thought he did, but he quickly changed emotions upon seeing us in the entryway.<br>"Sora, Donald, Goofy. When did you guys get here?"  
>They exchanged greetings all around, while I stayed star struck.<br>"And who are you?"  
>I giggled flirtatiously then cleared my throat and blushed. "I'm Lara. I'm not from this world. Well I've been in it for maybe a while now, but I'm not actually from here. Wow, you've got some muscles!"<br>He chuckled heartily and I blushed even brighter. That's when I noticed Meg was standing in the doorway and I put my brain on Focus. She wasn't to be trusted, yet.  
>"You on another adventure?" He looked at Sora, and Sora nodded.<br>"Trackin' down some old friends, wiping' out some heartless."  
>I laughed, "Sora, 'some' is an understatement, more like hoards."<br>"Junior heroes always busy!"  
>They gave a high five. "You know it!"<br>And we went inside the coliseum itself, in the trophy room before the stadium. I noticed the rope that was usually there during the video game, and how life like it looked to me. It was incredible how everything felt real, and I wondered with sadness if I would ever go back to my own world.  
>"So you find those friends of yours yet?" Herc asked, and I put my attention back on him.<br>"Friends?" I looked at Sora. And then remembered. "Oh, yeah. Riku and Kairi."  
>Sora nodded. "We're working on it. When we got here we ran into Meg-," He paused, and Meg looked at him with wide eyes. "Mega trouble! So we had to help somebody out."<br>I scoffed, rolling my eyes, and Hercules nodded his head in wonder.  
>"We tried to teach Hades a thing or two, but the Underworld wipes out our strength. Don't suppose you have any ideas?" Sora asked, putting his hands up.<br>Herc placed a hand to his chin. "Well there is a stone that protects against the Underworld's curse. The Gods on Mount Olympus use it whenever they have to go down there."  
>"Would it help us though? We aren't exactly Gods." I asked.<br>"I don't see why it wouldn't." Herc smiled, and I blushed again. "I'll go get it for you."  
>"Thanks!" Donald exclaimed and I smiled wide.<br>"Hades is no pushover though, even with the stone on your person. And I have a match today, so I can't go with you." Hercules stood up from sitting on one of the pedestals, and he seemed six feet taller than all of us. "You know what you guys need? Training."  
>I groaned. "No! Don't make me do that all over again." They gave me weird looks and I blushed. "I'm just really no good at the whole physical education stuff." Not to mention, I always made my brother do the training parts in Kingdom Hearts one, I thought, having a heavy heart because I hadn't seen my brother in so long.<br>Hercules told us that Phil was just inside the stadium waiting for us to be trained. Sora gathered us together and we slipped underneath the rope and went inside to greet our training teacher.


	10. Olympus Coliseum: Part 2

**Disney has all rights to their characters, story, and video game.**

* * *

><p>The stadium looked pretty much the same as it had on my T.V. screen, except it was like stepping into a real life stadium; much bigger and wider, and the sky was like a real life sky. I felt like I'd have enough room to run around as fast as possible, and I had to remind myself, that I wasn't a video game character. I was a real human being in a video game world. No one was controlling me, at least I hoped not. Phil was in the middle of the court, a ton of pots set up in a certain order. I knew I'd have to be breaking them sometime soon. Phil heard us arrive, but didn't turn around.<br>"Hey, Champ! How ya feeling? Better rest up for tomorrow's match." We all looked at each other and stifled laughs, letting Phil continue. "No body wants to see a worn-out hero, capiche? Remember what I told you." He lifted a hairy arm. "Victory in the games comes down to two words; eat, bathe, sleep."  
>Goofy counted three words, and we all smiled again and started laughing out loud.<br>"Well Phil, if you know a good place to bathe, I'll take you up on that offer." I smiled and he turned around ready to yell but hugged Sora instead.  
>"Well if it ain't the junior heroes!" He said and glanced at me. "And another recruit."<br>"Hey, I've been doing great on my fighting for being a first timer." I said, proudly hitting my chest with my fist.  
>"You guys earn your true hero wings yet?" They all got prepared to say yes, but instead thought about the many missions we've been on and which would impress Phil more. "Nope, still don't got what it takes." We all complained but he held up his hands. "So what's up?"<br>"Well we were thinking about fighting Hades and,"  
>Phil interrupted Sora by laughing. "You four are gonna take on Hades?"<br>"What's so funny?" Donald demanded.  
>Phil wiped a tear from his eyes. "You got nerve. I like that." He laughed again. "Hey you never know-stranger things have happened, right? Better get to training boys."<br>"Hey!" I said and he held up his hands.  
>"And girl! Don't worry, I didn't forget about you."<br>"Oh," I said, and slumped my shoulders. "I forgot. You're going to train us."  
>"If you're going to take on Hercules, you NEED training."<br>I stuck my tongue out at the boys leaving me to my first training session. But Sora patted my shoulder friendly. "Go get 'em!"  
>I gave him a thumbs up then turned back to Phil. "All right Phil. Test me!"<br>"Alright! That's what I like to hear!" He said, then pointed at all the pots that were set up. "Break the pots and collect as many orbs as you can."  
>I shrugged my shoulders. "Sound easy enough."<br>He chuckled. "Yeah, except you got a time limit of a minute and thirty seconds."  
>"What?"<br>"Go!"  
>I summoned my key blade and ran to the platform. With the clock ticking, I slashed at as many pots as I could to collect the shiny, Greek looking orbs as I went. Before the time went up, I collected twenty orbs.<br>"Ha! Yes! How was THAT Phil?"  
>He waved his hand haughtily. "Not bad, but there's still more on the menu." I groaned, but he placed a hand on my back. "Hey no worries. If you can collect twenty in under a minute, I'm sure you can collect a hundred."<br>"A hundred?" I exclaimed. "Are you serious?"  
>"Very. Now get out there and go train!"<br>I stuck my tongue out at him and got back onto the platform. Once I heard the whistle, I started hitting the pots fiercely, collecting the orbs again as fast as possible. That's when I noticed that there were bigger pots. Bigger pots meant more orbs! I started going after the bigger pots and as thirty seconds were on the timer, I collected my one hundred. I turned to see if Phil approve, but he was busy talking to Donald and Goofy. I found it kind of funny how this was such a small world after all, especially in the world of Disney. You would never see Donald and Goofy discussing matters with Phil from Hercules, or even have Herc know about Donald and Goofy. I really enjoyed this world so much better than my own. I placed myself next to Sora, my key blade disappearing. I punched his shoulder lightly and smiled at him.  
>"You doin' okay, Sora?"<br>"Yeah, just started thinking."  
>"Uh oh, better be careful or you'll hurt yourself." I teased and he smiled. Then I cleared my throat. "I actually came over to say I'm sorry about what happened earlier at Hollow Bastion. I know I don't normally lose my temper with you or the guys, I don't understand what came over me."<br>"It's okay. I understand you were frustrated." He took my hand. "I know you're worried about your friends, and I think that's why you make such a great best friend."  
>"You consider me your best friend?" I smiled.<br>He nodded and went to say more, but Phil came up to us, reuniting our group altogether.  
>"Listen, I gotta take off for a bit."<br>"Where to?" Sora asked, innocently.  
>But Phil snapped at him, "None-ya-beeswax." And he walked off.<br>"Rude." I said, crossing my arms.  
>Hercules turned to us and shook his head. "Sorry you guys."<br>I waved my hand. "Ah, I should know that Phil's like that."  
>"No," Herc said, and I uncrossed my arms. "The Olympus Stone has been stolen."<br>We all jumped. "What?"  
>"By who?" Goofy asked.<br>Herc shrugged his shoulders. "We don't know who did it yet. All we're sure of is that it was a guy in a black coat. And he had accomplices; a bunch of creatures in white." My gang and I looked at each other. Hercules continued. "Someone you know?"  
>"Definitely." Sora nodded. "If we find the Stone, could we borrow it for a little while?"<br>"Sure." Herc smiled. And then he opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again.  
>"What Herc?" I asked and he looked back at us.<br>"I was just going to ask if any of you have seen Meg around lately." We all shook our heads, and Herc sighed. "Oh, okay."  
>"What's wrong, your Hero-ness?" A cruel voice spoke up.<br>From behind Hercules, Hades stood grinning. Something told me Meg was with him. Hades placed a hand on Herc's shoulder. "Feeling a little under the weather?" Hercules jumped back, glaring. "You know, I thought staying in shape was part of the hero job description. You know what I'm saying?"  
>Sora perked up like he remembered something and stood up to Hades. "Hades, we gotta talk."<br>And Hades pushed him back like Sora was nothing but a fly.  
>I helped Sora up and glared at Hades, noticing Hercules was going to surprise attack him. "What did you need from us any way, jerk?"<br>He talked with his back turned to us. "I came to share some mildly interesting news; seems your dear, sweet, little Nutmeg," He paused, and vanished just as Hercules was about to grab him. He appeared before us. "Got herself lost in the Underworld."  
>Like I didn't see that coming. Herc spoke up, angry. "You mean you kidnapped her!"<br>Hades chuckled. "Maybe, but why get caught up in the details?"  
>Herc rose two fingers to his mouth and whistled a loud clear sound. From out of the sky a beautiful white horse with long, angel-like wings soared down and landed next to him. If Hades hadn't been there, I would have been spending my time admiring Pegasus, seeing how life like he was compared to his cartoonvideo game character.  
>Herc went to jump upon Pegasus, but Hades stopped him. "You can't leave now. You've got a very important match today against," He paused, for dramatic effect, even if I didn't feel it. "The bloodthirsty Hydra!" He added with an evil smirk. "I mean, if you don't stick around, who knows what kind of 'accidents' could happen."<br>"Yeah, accidents you cause!" Sora implied, and Hades just shrugged his shoulders.  
>"Like I said, details who needs them."<br>"You're just a coward!" Yelled Hercules.  
>"Ah well. We can't all be heroes." And Hades vanished within his black smoke.<br>Hercules crossed his arms, contemplating on what to do. That's when Sora placed his hands on his hips important-like and I knew Sora was going to make us go and save Meg.  
>"Can you handle this?"<br>Donald nodded, enthusiastically. "You got it! We're heroes!"  
>"You mean Junior Heroes, Donald."<br>Donald gave him another look, but Sora continued. "You take care of the hydra, we'll handle the rest!"  
>Hercules patted Sora's shoulder. "I'm counting on you," He looked at all of us. "All of you."<br>We nodded, as Hercules turned to his winged horse. "You gotta find Meg."  
>Pegasus, having the same thoughts as me, whinnied as if he were really moaning. But with a spread of his wings he jumped into the air and took off flying gracefully.<p>

We made our way back down the stairs and into the Underworld. Again, my shoulders felt heavy, and a light headache began to wax into my head.  
>"Phil!" Sora called out, and I now noticed Phil the satyr was lying down on the ground, hurt. He moaned, trying to sit up. I placed a hand on his shoulder lightly. Sora continued, "What happened?"<br>"I spotted this strange guy all dressed in black." Phil said, grabbing his side. "I chased after him, but he turned on me! Next thing I know, I'm seeing stars."  
>"All dressed in black?" Donald exclaimed, and Phil nodded.<br>"He's the one who stole the Olympus Stone." Sora said.  
>"Organization Thirteen." I shook my head.<br>"Did you see where he ran off to?"  
>"Deeper into the Underworld." Phil responded to Goofy's question. "He's a bad apple all right. And all I wanted was to find a backup hero. Just in case Herc needed to take a break."<br>"Phil! We're right here! You could've asked!" I exclaimed.  
>"You know someone?" He looked ecstatic. But when we all pulled out our weapons, he laughed. "Oh, yeah, good one!"<br>I shook my head as we entered the big zig-zag door again. With sudden thought, I turned to Sora. "Wait! Wouldn't it have been easier if we just rode on the back of Pegasus?"  
>"Then what kind of experience would we have achieved?" Sora teased and I stuck my tongue out at him.<br>We went down the same tunnels as normal, except we took a different turn after fighting amongst heartless. This tunnel was darker than the rest of the chambers within the Underworld.  
>"Man," Sora said, rubbing his shoulder. "This Underworld curse is really bothering me."<br>"we've got to get that Olympus Stone back fast!" Goofy nodded.  
>"What route are we on?" I asked, rubbing my head.<br>Sora looked at the map. "Called the 'Lost Roads'. Hercules said this is where the Olympus Stone was usually found."  
>We continued onward throughout the tunnel, my heart pendant warm with all the heartless attacks we were getting into. Something else I noticed with fear was that the chamber was getting darker. We then saw another giant tunnel doorway.<br>"Where does this lead to?" I asked, gulping.  
>"No idea," Sora shook his head, but we entered it anyway.<br>I tried looking around amidst the darkness, but the air itself seemed to be moving. When we went up a slope, the air stayed moving around the ankles around our feet.  
>"It's fog," I whispered, trying to get a good look at where the slope ended. It instead entered a little dome with another tunnel of stairs leading up to something. I stepped ahead but my pendant glowed brightly.<br>There at the end of the room was an organization member.  
>"Ah! You!" He exclaimed, and threw off his hood. The man in the black trench coat was tall and blonde, his hair styled like a mullet. I would of thought he was cute, except for the fact that he was the enemy. Then he gave a face as if he remembered someone. "Wait a second." He pointed to Sora. "Roxas?"<br>"Excuse me?" Sora asked, raising his eye brow.  
>"Roxas?" The man tried again. "Ah it's no use."<br>"Roxas?" I repeated. "Who's Roxas?" Did this man think Sora was this Roxas character because it was so dark in here? I tried to make my brain think about the name Roxas, seeing if I could remember anything about him, but my headache wouldn't let that happen.  
>The man ignored my question, pulling out a piece of paper. He muttered to himself. "Let's see here, 'If the subject fails to respond, use aggression to liberate his true disposition'. Right!" He sighed. "Did they ever pick the wrong guy for this one."<br>"You're bizarre." Sora shook his head.  
>That's when the man pulled out the Olympic Stone. We all gasped. "He must be the thief!" Goofy exclaimed.<br>"Now that's just plain rude." The man said, holding up the stone.  
>The stone glittered and brought out a guitar looking weapon. I stifled a laugh.<br>"A guitar! What are you gonna do, serenade us?"  
>He smirked at me, and strummed some strings on the neck of the guitar. "Dance, water, dance!"<br>Out appeared watery music notes. And they slapped us with a watery hit. It actually hurt! Though it hurt, and the notes annoyed me and my team, we took them out easily enough. All I really had to do was poke them with my key blade and they disappeared. I also figured with the music the man strummed on his guitar, I'd dance to it. Something told me I was hacking into another power of the key blade. It was getting rid of most of them quite easily, as I danced from one note to the other wildly. I was enjoying myself, I think, as I smiled and turned in the air. Sora turned and took out the last one, and the man smirked again.  
>"Not bad, Roxas." He said, finishing the song up quickly.<br>"You know, for you being heavily confused, you have great taste in music." I said, holding my key blade lightly.  
>He shook his head at me and then looked at Sora. "Roxas, come back to us!" He pleaded. But before we could respond, he disappeared.<br>Sora placed his key blade on his shoulders. "The guy's a broken record."  
>"Hey look!" Donald went up to where the man was standing, and picked up the Olympic Stone.<br>Sora took the stone from Donald gently, then held it up. It glowed, and for a second I thought it was going to be the key hole for us to lock and unlock, but it ended up healing our battle wounds and making us stronger. My shoulders felt normal again, and my headache ebbed away. I smiled at Sora and he nodded.  
>"Let's go! Meg needs our help."<br>And we headed up the stairs to the next level in the Underworld.

The room was dome like as well, but in the center glowed a black and blue portal tornado. At the end of the portal, a giant stone was placed, and Meg's body was etched into it, a keyhole being in the middle of her carving.  
>Sora made his key blade appear, but I stopped his hand. "Wait, Sora, I have a bad feeling about this."<br>"But this is what we came for, to save Meg. She must be in that stone, and we have to help her."  
>"But-," He interrupted me.<br>"We promised Herc. He's counting on us."  
>I released his hand and looked worriedly as he unlocked the stone's keyhole. Everything glowed brightly, and the stone cracked open. After the bright light dimmed, the stone had vanished and instead there was a giant gaping hole where the portal had been. We all jumped down, bringing out our weapons. Meg was there, her arms tied against her with the smoke ropes Hades usually conjured.<br>Hades laughed just then, making us jump. "Now that's what I call a key." He clapped his hands together, smiling cruelly. "Gee, thanks for your help. Now have a nice day."  
>"Darn it! He got away again!" I said, after Hades vanished. I turned to look at Meg, glaring. "Meg, how could you-?"<br>"Behind you!" She exclaimed, and we all jumped backwards, seeing Pete come from behind us.  
>He bellowed a villainy laugh, heartless surrounding him from behind. "What's wrong? Can't fight in the Underworld? Boo-hoo-hoo!" He mocked, laughing again.<br>"Better think again!" Sora said, and we all got into a battle stance.  
>"Charge!" Exclaimed Pete.<br>And the battle commenced.


End file.
